American Idol 10 – Top 12 Girls – Performance Recap

I find it more than a little bit scary that I find myself agreeing with Randy Jackson more often then not in this new season of American Idol.

Randy’s seems to be the guy to step up and deliver the bad news to a hopeful who didn’t deliver the goods. But you know–somebody’s got to do it. To Steven Tyler, everything and everyone is “beautiful,” and Jennifer Lopez seems to be in a constant state of “amazement.”

So far, I’m a little disappointed in this new judging panel. Forget about hurting people’s feelings, and deliver the truth.

The good news is, it seems clear that the season is not going to be either boring or a dud. There’s some major talent/personalities taking the big Idol stage, and I find myself thoroughly engaged throughout the show. When it comes right down to it, NOTHING else matters if the cast is a good one.

Twitter complaints about the TV sound mix finally brought Nigel Lythgoe out to address the concerns, “I’m getting frustrated with our sound!” tweeted Nigel, “I don’t know where it’s going wrong. The mix between voice and band is okay when it leaves the studio.” There have always been sound issues with Idol. Why is it that the band always seems to overpower the singers?

My favorites tonight were Kendra Chantelle and Lauren Turner. I feel bad for Rachel Zevita and Julie Zorrilla both are much better than their botched performances on the Idol stage tonight would leave you to believe, but the average Idol viewer isn’t going to know that. This sudden death set-up sure can be cruel.

Live blog, Photos and Videosafter the JUMP…

The judges enter! Jennifer is all SPARKLY tonight. She says the girls are special, supremely talented and beautiful inside and out. The girls are just as “explosive” as the guys. Randy says America has a chance to pick the “ultimate” top ten. When you vote, ask yourself “Is this the American Idol”. “It is a full moon coming on, I sensed a little nervous, but they got to sing like there is no tomorrow,” says Steven.

Here come the LADIES.

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – “Only Girl (In The World)” by Rihanna – 1-866-436-5701 – Underwhelming. She’s breathy, off-pitch, and a little manic. She’s not bringing anything new to this very current song. Oh girlfriend. You’re fodder, you needed to kill it tonight, and you did not. Steven says, “Beautiful way to open the show. You sang the song, and the song sang you.” “It’s good that your over now, and your the first one,” says Jennifer, “You started off shaky, and you brought it all the way home.” Randy says, “I differ from them. I thought it was just OK. You didn’t bring anything special to it. It paled in comparison to Rhianna’s version. Notes were sharp in the the chorus.” Aaaaand once again RANDY AND I SHARE A BRAIN. This is SCARING ME. – VIDEO

Naima Adedapo – “Summertime” – 1-866-436-5702 – Naima gets a little sit down with Ryan. She designed the bright orange dress she’s wearing tonight. Singing “Summertime” on the Idol stage is a very risky move. But, Naima’s version is very unlike Fantasia’s. It’s cool, jazzy and upbeat. I’m liking this more than I thought I would after reading the spoilers. She’s doin her own thing. Nice big note at the end. Jennifer says, “You bring color, you’re like an exotic flower in a rose garden. ” Randy says, “It was a little lounge acty…we saw someone annihilate this a few years ago [Fantasia]…I enjoyed the second half more than the first.” Steven says, “I take you personally, it was like early Ella Fitzgerald. It was beautiful. I love you a lot.” – VIDEO

Kendra Chantelle – “Impossible” by Christina Aguilera – 1-866-436-5703 – Wow. I wasn’t expecting Kendra to have such a supple, powerful voice. Nice phrasing, beautiful tone. She’s got a distinct style. She does it up jazzy. Good stuff. Randy says, “I love that vibrato, it reminds me of Lauryn Hill, I felt connected” Steven says, “You did it again, voice hot clothes hot style hot song.” Jennifer says, “You have heart. You fought your way into the Top 12. You belong here. We’re just scratching the surface with you. Amazing.” – VIDEO

Rachel Zevita – “Criminal” by Fiona Apple - 1-866-436-5704 – Rachel throws off a black cape to reveal a little black beaded dress. She’s singing “Criminal” like she’s in a supper club. It’s an interesting idea, but her vocals are OFF. I like the idea of this arrangement, but the execution didn’t quite cut it. Steven says, “I loved your strut…it’s a little too Broadway for me.” Jennifer says, “How do you want America to see you? Do want them to see you as a Broadway performer or as a recording artist? For me, I wish we would have seen a little bit that tonight.” Randy does not mince words, “It didn’t work. I didn’t even know what that was. It wasn’t great.” Rachel looks crushed. – VIDEO

Karen Rodriguez – “Hero” by Mariah Carey (sung half in Spanish) – 1-866-436-5705 – Ugh. Not digging this song choice. Very generic. She sings parts of it in Spanish. I feel like I’ve been transported back to Gloria Estafan in the 90s. She’s got an impressive set of pipes, I just wish she wouldn’t bore me with lame choices. She gets a standing ovation. The vocal was great but…Zz. Jennifer says, “Yes, Karen. Wow. Goosebumps. I love that you changed into Spanish. Amazing.” Randy says, “I like that you figured out a way to make it you. I thought the Spanish was better than the English.” Steven says, “I think you ought to get together with Jacob Lusk over there and sing it again. I loved it. I think you’re fantastic. Beautiful.” – VIDEO

Lauren Turner sings “Seven Day Fool” by Etta James (Jully Black’s version) – 1-866-436-5706 – Lauren has a throaty bluesy alto and tons of soul. She’s got a great vibe. I hope she makes the Top 12. “That’s how you do it man. I love the feel that this could be Amy Winehouse meets Florence and the Machine.” “That was spectacular. That was like Lauren Turner meets Lauren Turner. I loved it. A perfect full complete sentence.” “you voice is undeniable. Phsyically you’re holding back, You were holding back. You were great, but don’t hold back.” – VIDEO

***

Ashton Jones – “Love Over Me” by Monica – 1-866-436-5707 – Great pipes on this chick. She works the stage well, seems confident. “Jonesy, you’ve got the confidence of a Queen, and you sing so sweet.” You have all the makings of a diva. You’re confidence is breathtaking.” “I get it from you,” says Ashton. “You should be very proud.” “I like you. I didn’t like the song. I think you’re broader, bigger than that. You’re Diana Ross baby. I agree with Randy. Great voice. Pick better songs. – VIDEO

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Julie Zorrilla – “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson – 1-866-436-5708 – Attempting Kelly Clarkson is usually a big mistake. Yep. That hasn’t changed. This song is WAY too big for Julie. The judges do not look impressed. Eep. She’s off pitch. She had such beautiful moments in Hollywood. This is really a shame. Jennifer says, “I didn’t feel it was the best thing I’ve ever seen you do. I felt it a little bit more here…you need to connect to those words.” “Our orginal AI sang that song. You didn’t bring anything iknew to it. You didn’t sing nearly as well. What’s going to make me special and stand out? Not pale compared to Kelly.” Wrong song for you. – VIDEO

Haley Reinhart – “Fallin” by Alicia Keyes – 1-866-436-5709 – She’s a good singer, albiet a little hokey. She’s not bringing anything new to this song. Not a great song choice for Haley. If you’re going to pick a big hit like “Fallin” you got to shake it up. Randy says, “It didn’t do anything for you. It’s like a karaoke kind of thing.” Haley looks stricken. Steven says, “I heard just the right amount of style, the right amount of sexy.” Jennifer says, “I agree with Steven. We saw a lot of different colors in your voice. You need to get out of your head a little bit. You belong here.” Eep. Again. Randy speaks the truth. – VIDEO

Thia Megia – “Out Here On My Own” from Fame – 1-866-436-5710 – She starts out a capella (sorta like the movie). I dunno. Does this show off Thia’s ability to be a current recording artist? More like it shows off her ability to be a robotic pageant bot. This isn’t star search…or America’s Got Talent, Thia. Steven says, “A person’s pitch can be so perfect, it doesn’t matter what song she picks.” GROAN. WRONG. “That was beautiful.” NEW DRINKING GAME. “It was such a quiet moment…captivate every person in this room. It was really special.” “The mark of a great singer is the quality of the tone. The tone reminds me so much of the late Michael Jackson…this is what hot singing is all about.” Actually she turned 16 people. – VIDEO

Lauren Alaina – “Turn on the Radio” by Reba McEntire – 1-866-436-5711 – Lauren is so polished it’s scary. It’s easy to see why they want her to win. She’s got great chops, personality, she knows who she is. The complete package, as they say. They are probably already figuring out what they’ll do when they sign her. Jennifer says, “My little Lauren. Yeah! You look so beautiful. You don’t even have to try. The voice is so effortless. I know there’s more in there. Amazing.” Randy says, “You have a natural gift. You can sing anything. I don’t think you even know how talented you are.” OMG Randy calls her a cross between Kelly and Carrie. HELLS NO. She’s good, but not that good. “You kill me. I love you. You’re the best,” says Steven. “I want everyone to meet peaches,” says Lauren. Ryan’s got a nickname. – VIDEO

Pia Toscano – “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders - 1-866-436-5712 – I love this song! Don’t f*ck it up! And she doesn’t. Pia has amazing control and a huge range. She nails every note. The only thing–she might be a little too controlled. I don’t feel a complete connection with her. Sorta the way I felt about LaToya London back in Season 3. She gets a BIG STANDING O. Pia has some serious talent. Randy says, “This is our first standing of our new season. You just put yourself in the top with that amazing performance. That’s how you do it.” Steven says, “That was unbelievable. that was so over the top. That was gorgeous.” Jennifer says, “I knew that you were a standout. You were saving that you were saving that for when it counts. Out of this world.” – VIDEO

Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted.I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!

Just awful…Jlo, it doesn’t matter how LOUD you get, it was still awful.

sbalk017

I don’t understand this randy that makes sense.

tinawina

She sounded horrible. Shutup Jennifer. Randy is the only sane person up there.

blissful

I have to agree with Randy on Ta-ty — it was okay and she was off-key occasionally.

Tony

Steven and Jennifer are proving to be quite useless as judges.

Dakota01

Ta-Tanisa was awful. I don’t think she could hear herself. She was off-key for most of the song.

koshka

I. Have high hopes for the girls…. But that just sucked.

wonderings

Calling it now: crinolines are the new wallet chains.

lili_anne7

Ta-tynisa’s vocals were pretty bad but i have to say she is a good performer. If only she had the voice to back it up.

claudette

I’m so disappointed in the judges because I have absolutely loved them to this point. And there is no excuse because it sounds like they listen to the rehearsal so they can hear what’s going on.

tinawina

Calling it now: crinolines are the new wallet chains.

LMAO

http://photoshack.com/index.php?cat=25701 Ron

That set the bar on the floor level. No place to go but up … I hope.

koshka

Steven and Jennifer … The new Ellens for the season? Let’s hope not.

http://www.myspace.com/gundomom CarieB

Aaaaand once again RANDY AND I SHARE A BRAIN. This is SCARING ME.

OMG, MJ. Seriously scary.

blissful

Randy is playing the mean judge card — but without much wit. But someone has to give an accurate judging. But I’m still waiting for constructive and specific feedback.

chicksineggz

OH MY GOD, Ta-Tynisa was TERRIBLE.

Jewlmc

I’m guessing all those complaining about missing Simon and the judges not be critical enough didn’t see Simon on U.K. X-factor this year. Because he would have slobbered all over that performance if she was in his contestant.

steph6449

omg, what is she wearing? not an attractive skirt when she’s moving on stage :shock: off pitch a bit at times also, and it’s too fast IMO.

But parts of it I liked, would be interested to see more from her. (Naima)

nad

Hello Jennifer!! Randy has been doing this for 10 seasons now!! I can’t believe I have agreed with him so far..

Niall

There’s a difference between being unduly harsh and constructive criticism. Simon was so over the top negative about the performances last season that the audience started to wonder why the judges put those “losers” through. Jennifer and Steven will hopefully get more comfortable with that balance soon. They need to, Randy’s blatherings just don’t cut it.

Spoiler sources were off on Naima. I didn’t think she was bad at all. I don’t give a crap if Fantasia also sang that song. I have more than half a brain so I can tell the difference.

CindyM

I really liked that! Different than Fantasia’s version completely (which I loved too!)

jasmaree

Is it just me, or was Naima really, really good? I mean better than any of the boys last night. Not as good as Fantasia’s version of “Summertime,” but good nonetheless.

ETA: I think she stands a good chance to get to the top 5.

Mark

I think Randy’s being given too much credit; he’s not doing anything except not completely botching the criticism. Even Paula would have been half-hearted.

claudette

Wow I loved her. A lot. Okay, some camera work didn’t like but these it the first time with a camera in their face. I’m super impressed.

sbalk017

Her voice is excellent but I can’t look at her. The clothes and the dancing aren’t working.

jammasta

As much as I want a guy to win this year (I don’t care that a male has won 3 years in a row, the guys are interesting this year), we just started with the girls. The guys took a while to kick in yesterday, but they did. Girls could do the same.

Owlgirl

Naima was much better than I was expecting! Glad, I really like her.

blissful

Naima was good (I was never a big fan of Fannie’s version), but her lower register can use some work.

Not a fan of the lower part of her dress either.

Niall

Nice job, Naima! I’m glad to see she’s got the guts and confidence to tackle a song that some people believe “belongs” to Fanny.

SparklesATL

What’s the deal with Adam Lambert being up there with the winners in the opening?

Not that I mind. ;)

lili_anne7

Naima was GOOD. Not Fantasia good, but I liked it,

Jewlmc

There’s a difference between being unduly harsh and constructive criticism. Simon was so over the top negative about the performances last season that the audience started to wonder why the judges put those “losers” through. Jennifer and Steven will hopefully get more comfortable with that balance soon. They need to, Randy’s blatherings just don’t cut it.

This. And i feel like we’ve been conditioned at this point to think the semifinals are supposed to be a suckfest.

nad

Ummm…spoilers were wrong, Naima was really good…totally different from Fantasia

I’m not sure if I like Naima. A bit theatrical, she’s got a nice voice though.

The spoilers were wrong for these girls so far. I thought Naima was supposed to receive HORRIBLE comments.

jammasta

Glad the spoiler seems off about Naima.

jasmaree

Kendra is killing it (in a good way). This is gonna be a good episode.

aislinn

Naima was wonderful! I liked it better than Fantasia’s version, but the more important issue is she made it her own, and she sang it IN KEY. So many of the guys last night and the first girl tonight have been off pitch too much. I don’t care that auto-tune exists in the world, artists should not be counting on it to bail them out.

CindyM

I really liked that too!! She’s got a cool vibe and could go pretty far I think!

girlygirl

Kendra was a little shaky in the middle of that performance, but overall, I thought that was pretty good

Niall

Kendra sounds great. She seems to have some stage presence to go along with her voice. I’ve liked 2 out of the 3 girls so far.

claudette

I liked her too. GIRLS RULE this year. So far, to me, the girls are better than every single guy.

blissful

Kendra sounds great. With the exception of the first one, the girls are bringing it.

gangreen29

Hmm. The spoiler sources were very negative on Kendra and Naima who I actually liked, but very positive on Robbie and Stefano who I wasn’t impressed with.

Niall

We’ll have to see, but I think so far the girls are making a case for the wildcard slots moreso than the guys did last night.

HR

First girl made Rihanna sound like she is a great singer.

Naima and Kendra were good. Spoilers sources haven’t been syncing up to what I’m seeing onscreen so far.

lili_anne7

Kendra was just ok for me, she has a nice voice, but she did not wow me.

blissful

It’s still early, but the girls seem more confident and polished.

lili_anne7

So far :
Girls >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Guys

It’s a girl’s year people.

wonderings

The women are definitely making the fashion portion of the evening interesting.

Holy spandex batman! Wallet chains on the bosom?

Kendra sounded very good, but the song choice was not memorable and didn’t showcase her lovely tone as well as we’ve heard in the past.

CindyM

SparklesATL:
03/02/2011 at 8:18 pm

What’s the deal with Adam Lambert being up there with the winners in the opening?

Not that I mind. ;)

Wow, first time noticing? The panels also feature Jennifer Hudson and Daughtry (also non-winners) too.

jinxx315

Naima sort of reminded me of Shug Avery in the Color Purple. She was amazing. They got some really good singers this year.

Junior

Kendra looks like she’s working too hard. I want it to look effortless, but with energy, but it just looks like she’s trying really, really hard.

Inconnu

Kendra was good. I like her song, her voice, the way she dresses. I hope she makes it in the top 10.

gangreen29

When I thought Naima did bad I was okay with her going 2nd but now that I felt it was good I’m sad because I like her. Vote Naima!!

http://mjsbigblog bessiedim

Tyler and JLo are giving generic one note comnents just like Ellen last year.So disappointing.

girlygirl

I liked Naima’s version of Summertime, but the moves/dancing were a little distracting, and not in a good way.

Vital

So far, I’m liking the girls better tonight.
The only girl I didn’t care much for at all was Ta-Tynisa Wilson.

MayMirabella

I liked Naima and Kendra, I thought they made these songs their own and I like their voices.

Mtlfan

tatanysa was too off-key at times. Just ruins something that would have been very good otherwise.
Naima was better than i expected but i have reservation on the stylisation and the tempo- bit too fast for me.
Kendra was a bit bland for me.. but still good

CindyM

Shit. Why did she do this arrangement of “Criminal”? The original is so great…damnit. I like her, why????

jasmaree

Rachael has the attitude that comes with the song, but the singing is sub-par. This is bad.

aislinn

Not good, Rachel, not good at all.

gangreen29

I LOVE Rachel. LOVE her.

Tony

That was like the circus version of that song

girlygirl

well, I have to admit I would never think of turning Criminal into a jazz/big band arrangement. But it sounded like Rachel was off key the entire performance

wonderings

Chicago!Rachel?

I really like her but why, oh WHY isn’t she sticking with the original melody?

fuzzywuzzy

Sound mix is bad again. So far, I liked Rachel the best.

steph6449

Rachel didn’t sound very good, and at one point early on she almost seemed disoriented for a sec :?

The red dress is pretty though :)

jasmaree

JLO and Tyler are stepping up their game. Those were some actually constructive comments.

primeminister

Rachel was pretty awful. It wasn’t the song, it was her singing.

lili_anne7

Rachel was NOT GOOD. I felt like she was a little lost in some instances .

aislinn

well, I have to admit I would never think of turning Criminal into a jazz/big band arrangement. But it sounded like Rachel was off key the entire performance

She was off key, I agree.

Mtlfan

oh shit.. i liked Rachel performance. she’s sassy and i liked the overall styling but ouch the judging. I so disagree with Randy

jasmaree

Rachel didn’t sound very good, and at one point early on she almost seemed disoriented for a sec

I think I know the moment you’re talking about. I thought that maybe she forgot the words for a second.

ri

Rachel sounded lousy.

iluvai

Rachel was terrible and it cracks me up at how she looks so shocked by the judges’ comments. She really thinks highly of herself.

Naima was really great!

blissful

Woah, I’m shocked by Rachel — I had her pegged as someone shaky for stage presence. I totally felt she was giving a broadway vibe, which is a compliment. She sang well and commanded the stage, but I’m not sure if it accurately reflects her.

I like to hear more of her.

Is everyone as short or shorter than Ryan this year?

steph6449

Nothing too original, but Karen sounds pretty good.
.

I think I know the moment you’re talking about. I thought that maybe she forgot the words for a second.

Yup, that’s how it seemed to me. Just briefly, but noticeable.

Nuts 0f Wonder

I like Rachel but that was bad

Valentin432

Will be interesting to see wheter Karen singing in spanish will play well with the voters. Spoilers were not very accurate so far.

fuzzywuzzy

Karen is good!

jammasta

Hmm. Now that people are saying Girls year, I’m gonna have to watch tonight! Wonder if I’ll find any as interesting as James Durbin or Scott McCreery!

And whoever put the first three guys together yesterday should take a lesson from the one who put the girls together today. Unless they were the same person, in which case they need to not be sexist against men.

girlygirl

Karen is putting me to sleep. The vocal was ok, but. so. boring.

Soberba

Rachel blew it. That was not good. Damn. I love her.

Kendra and Naima were great.

MrDuffin

What are these ladies wearing! I know they did not pick these dresses on their own!

jasmaree

Karen was really good. And she looks great too. Love the dress. Reminded me a little of Whitney Houston toward the end.

Junior

Please, someone call Karen out on her song choice!

CindyM

I really like Karen!! Loved the spanish, the girls so far are OWNING the guys.

wonderings

I really, really hate the overdone gesticulating.

Karen’s not alone in this – are they being coached to gesture cheesily?

primeminister

I liked Karen. She made Hero palatable.

SparklesATL

Wow, first time noticing? The panels also feature Jennifer Hudson and Daughtry (also non-winners) too.

I’ll have to go back and look for them. This is the first year they’ve done that.

aislinn

Karen’s was too pageant-y, although at least she was on pitch. Pretty forgettable.

koshka

Ok if I didn’t know she was singing Spanish I would have thought she was mumbling. Lol

Valentin432

Jacob is your best friend in the competition? Lol she was in the same high school as Pia Toscano right?

Inconnu

I wish Karen would have chosen another song. It was a boring song for me but I guess she`s got a good voice.

I feel sorry for Rachel. There were really harsh comments.

MrDuffin

So far as bad as the boys….if not worse!

HR

I think everything about Rachel’s performance was great. Except the singing. Next time if she advances focus on nailing your notes first. I selfishly want to see her make it since she’s interesting.

Karen did well. The song might have been even better if she’d performed it all in Spanish.

Junior

I missed the first two performances, but so far i’m bored to tears.

gangreen29

I like Karen and I’m sick of people calling diva songs tired. The show hasn’t exactly been filled with diva types the last few years. It’s gotten to the point where I find it more refreshing when someone comes on stage and blasts it out. Nice change of pace from the too earnest vocally weak guitar strumming.

sbalk017

Girls are killing the boys right now.

blissful

Karen was good, but I was a bored.

nad

Definitely a girls year. I was not a fan of Rachel, but Karen was pretty decent. Once again, I agreed with Randy, thather spanish was better than her English parts.

ri

maybe it’s me but Karen didn’t thrill me either.

lili_anne7

Karen reminds me of the old-school diva singers. Her song choice was kind of cheesy, but her vocals were spot on.

Nina1

I’m sorry about Rachel; I like her, she has magic.

The contestants this year are all very poised and converse with the judges like they are regular folks! Very odd.

tinawina

Aw Rachel. I wanted to hug her. But the judges were right.

I liked Karen. It was pagenty, but it fit the song. I want her in the top 10.

Duke

For some reason….and im thinking its this super shitty, overly-reverb-ed, not loud enough sound, combined with this stage/audience set-up…i’m feeling for the first time that i’m watching some karaoke competition…not idol…these do not feel like the same singers we heard in Hwood to me.

First girl was pitchy, Naima was okay, Kendra was good, Rachel was BAD and Karen was good. Wonder if they are saving the best for last like last night. My favorites are Pia and Lauren A so I hope that is the way it turns out. After what we heard about the producers picking the songs I wonder if the song choice and arrangement for Rachel was intentional since she said she never sings Broadway. Why would you choose to sing a broadway style version of a song if you it is not your style.

Lauren Turner did good.

claudette

Lauren T was overrated to me. I mean she was great but so many are very good. Going to be a tough choice.

steph6449

Karen actually managed to be on pitch through her entire song from what I could tell. Yay :) Not thrilling, but very nice.
.

This last girl, screaming a bit for me but a lot of energy which was fun.

Tony

That was great!

Guess I’m rooting for both Laurens now :)

jammasta

Naima totally just killed most of these guys except Scott and James, probably Casey. That was AWESOME.

s0x_prisoner

Lauren T’s performance was the only one I’ve seen so far, but that was great!

fuzzywuzzy

Lauren T. was really good!

Duke

Lauren Turner needs a serious makeover…fuck

tinawina

I liked that, but she seemed a little awkward in stage. She can work on that. The voice was there.

Very jazz/broadway tonight.

Valentin432

Lauren T was very good but I’m not a fan of this song. Will be interesting to see what’s the voting result.

blissful

Lauren T is my new favorite. Supple voice with power. The arrangement was a bit cheesy with the back-up singers.

Man, the girls have a fighting chance this year. If not, I’m going to be entertained during the process.

Nina1

Lauren Turner is incredibly talented! I also like that Lauren’s clothes look is not yet polished and expensive.

HR

1) Lauren T.
2) Karen
3) Naima
4) Kendra

Also I want Rachel in the Top 10 in spite of her singing tonight. :)

aislinn

Lauren was great – good song choice for her, and delivered well.

flakky

So far, I only like Karen and Lauren T. Though Tatynisa wasn’t too bad too.

lili_anne7

I love Lauren T’s voice, but I agree with J Lo, she has to work on her stage presence a little.

iluvai

Lauren T. was so good. I think she is the female dark horse. :)

MrDuffin

So far all the girls have been loud….but not in tune….

Valentin432

Ashton looks so much like Syesha right now

ri

looks like Ryan is going to have his hands full with James!

jasmaree

Ashton was good, if a little cliched.

tinawina

Ashton. Eh. And stop with the Yeah in the middle of the song.

Good stage presence though. Lots of personality.

gangreen29

So far all the girls have been loud….but not in tune….

Wrong.

Valentin432

The spoilers were wrong big time about Ashton too? What happened with those guys.

webster

My take on the first six:

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – “Only Girl (In The World)”
Vocals were very weak and off key. I love her look, especially her hair. I agree with Randy on this. There was nothing interesting in the performance.

Naima Adedapo – “Summertime”
A very retro-lounge-y take. It was OK, but nothing special.
(OMG- Randy just called it lounge-y. Will I be in synch with him all night)

Kendra Chantelle – “Impossible” by Christina Aguilera
I like Kendra’s tone when she’s mellow, but she gets harsh and off pitch when she goes high. I like her style.

Rachel Zevita – “Criminal” by Fiona Apple
I really like her voice, but not liking this arrangement. Again too lounge lizard. Too femme fatale and too “big” for her voice. Still, I want to see more of her.

Karen Rodriguez – “Hero” by Mariah Carey (sung half in Spanish)
Sounds good, but this song is so bland and overdone, and she adds nothing new. Still, I like her.

Lauren Turner sings “Seven Day Fool” by Etta James (Jully Black’s version)
Uh,uh,uh. She’s got a good voice, but again, boring arrangement. I think maybe the band is stuck in the 50’s. But, I like her going into and out of falsetto, a la Duffy. I hope she stays.

(I’m shocked how much I’m agreeing with Randy. I wonder if he’s been playing an assigned role all these years. As a producer, he must have had an ear all along).

blissful

Ashton is getting on my nerves — she’s trying so hard when yakking with the judges and Ryan.

I only caught half of her performance, but I did not find her distinctive and a bit mush mouth.

lili_anne7

I thought Ashthon was great, wasn’t the best song choice, but she’s got the vocals.

Junior

Ashton was kinda screamy. She was my favorite woman coming into tonight, but her tone was not pleasant tonight.

aislinn

(I’m shocked how much I’m agreeing with Randy. I wonder if he’s been playing an assigned role all these years. As a producer, he must have had an ear all along).

It is shocking to actually hear him give constructive criticism this year, and I find myself agreeing with most of what he’s saying. I really hope Steven doesn’t turn into another Ellen, not giving any useful feedback – he was so good in the auditions.

Marie Ruffin

The girls are kicking butt. All of them so far as spectacular….a great change from yesterday.

Valentin432

I’m going to have to revise my picks big time, there will be at least one and probably two black rnb/soul singers in the top 10.

Liva

looks like Ryan is going to have his hands full with James!

Impulse control issue, yet most enjoyable when it happens to Ryan. Well done, James!

claudette

The girls are bringing so much personality, talent and individuality. I’m going to hate any of them going on. I wish now we didn’t have to have half boys! Ha…I became a new James fan last night but I’ve over it already. The girls have so much class. The girls are different than the usual and I do think they’ll make it to the top.

Mtlfan

i think Karen was a bit boring. Lauren T. was really good; this is the performance i preferred so far.
Ashton is good too

CindyM

So, Ryan said that the WC picks were tomorrow night so the rumor posted earlier not right? I would think if it changed, they would have edited it right..?

Marie Ruffin

Julie — not the right song…the background singers oversang her.

Tony

This is some pageant mess

Junior

Ugh, Julie…really?

claudette

She is so bad. Highlights that she doesn’t have the tone that Kelly has. Ouch!

keware

I’m not really liking any of them that much. All very generic. Julie is the worst right now. And I had high hopes for her.

lili_anne7

WOW, Julie is AWFUL!

CindyM

No, no Julie Zorrilla…you don’t sound good. The song sounds too big for her and she’s having to battle the band. This could have been cool stripped down.

tinawina

Julie, that was bad. Sadz.

Valentin432

Lol, not a good sign that I’m histerically laughing at my computer Julie.

Lucy1234

Really bad for Julie – just ruined Breakaway.

steph6449

A lot of background vocals going on with Julie’s performance. Hard to hear her sometimes, she mostly sounded fine though except at the very very end a little iffy to me.

Marie Ruffin

claudette:
03/02/2011 at 8:55 pm

The girls are bringing so much personality, talent and individuality. I’m going to hate any of them going on. I wish now we didn’t have to have half boys!

I agree. I wish it was all girls because there’s no boy(s) that I feel has “star” quality.
“Fallin” is a song that’s easy to tackle, but her personality is a turn off.

Soberba

OMG, julie that was HORRIBLE!!!!

jasmaree

That is not a good song for Julie. She’s pretty shouty and squeaky, and I think she’s kinda flat. And why would you sing Kelly Clarkson? She sounded kinda pretty at the end, but overall a bad performance.

Tony

LMAO THAT WAS AWFUL

http://www.amadcow2.com amadcow2

Expected so much more from Julie, and wow, she tanked that song.

ReginaFilange

Is it just me or is the band backing Julie WAY to frickin loud?

girlygirl

Oh Julie — that was not good. Kelly Clarkson has nothing to worry about with that sort of performance…

blissful

Oh Julie, you do not sound good. He voice sounds thin and flat — what happened?? She was one of my faves going in and she was on the worst ones :(

Kelly takes down another singer.

sbalk017

Loving kendra and lauren t. Julie was not good. But that was a dumb song choice.

SparklesATL

Julie sucked more than the others sucked.

Owlgirl

Was hoping the spoilers were wrong on Julie too, even though she basically doomed herself on song choice alone.

I really like her, this is disappointing. This has been a really good night so far, so she might’ve killed her chances.

soccerboi

I really like Julie but that was not good…too bad she can do so much better

phil25

The girls are really great. I like Naima, Lauren, and Ashthon best so far.

Junior

Man, I really wanted to like the women this year, but so far i’m just not feelin’ it.

Indigobunting

Choo, Choo……..CRASH

aislinn

Julie was bad, that shouldn’t keep her in the competition.

lili_anne7

” The girls are really great. I like Naima, Lauren, and Ashthon best so far.”

Those are my favorites too so far.

jasmaree

The song choice is boring, but Haley’s vocals are spot-on.

Inconnu

Randy is doing a great job judging. Steven Tyler right now is the worst of them. It’s like it doesn’t matter what he says. I still like him though and want him on the show. I just hope he does better.

I think it’s a better night tonight.

soccerboi

DO not like Haley either…

keware

Randy is right about standing out. A few of the boys did just that. I will forget about these girls as soon as the show is over.

fuzzywuzzy

Oo, Not a good performance from Julie.

Nuts 0f Wonder

I am not a fan of fallin, but I think this is pretty good

tinawina

Not working for me, Haley. It was like a drunk girl just wandered on the stage and walked in circles singing.

ReginaFilange

Haley + about 10 years = Ke$ha?

Soberba

Is Haley having a seizure?

bridgette12

jasmaree:
03/02/2011 at 8:58 pm
That is not a good song for Julie. She’s pretty shouty and squeaky, and I think she’s kinda flat. And why would you sing Kelly Clarkson? She sounded kinda pretty at the end, but overall a bad performance.

She song it because she has idiots whispering in her ear, that she’s the next Kelly Clarkson. The song was too big for her and she among a few others made a bad song choice.

Duke

HALEY WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!

FUCK YOU RANDY YOU FUCKHEAD UR NOT SIMON U DICK!!!

CindyM

Wow. I don’t agree with Randy. I thought that Haley sounded great.

certain1

I thought they banned Fallin’ if not they should. Plus she repeated this song from an earlier performance.

lili_anne7

Not feeling Haley. She was just ok. At least she came after the terrible Julie zorilla.

Junior

I actually kind of liked that. A bit karaoke, but so far she’s been the most nuanced. (I missed the first two songs though)

blissful

Nice beginning for Haley…and a few voice cracks in the middle…and an okay end. She did okay.

Most of the girls can work the stage, but I’m not a fan of the deep knee bends.

I’m still agreeing with Randy.

girlygirl

I liked parts of Haley’s performance, and hated other parts of it. She has annoyed me with all the unnecessary vocal runs and other tricks in previous performances, so it’s hard for me to really get behid her

Valentin432

I love Haley sound, I’m not sure her performance did her any favor

wonderings

Not working for me, Haley. It was like a drunk girl just wandered on the stage and walked in circles singing.

Yes! I was thinking Haley = Miley on stevia, trying too hard to be sexy. If only she had a pole on which to growl.

jasmaree

HALEY WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!

FUCK YOU RANDY YOU FUCKHEAD UR NOT SIMON U DICK!!!

It’s a reality show, Duke. You must chill.

iluvai

I thought Haley was good and Julie was painful to watch.

keware

Steven is worthless. Jennifer too. Randy is the voice of reason this year. I hope Nigel gets this in order because S and J can’t love everyone. What’s the point of having them?

Marie Ruffin

Lauren is “last”….hmmm….is she the pimp star?

MrDuffin

This is some pageant mess

True…they should have let the girls pick their own songs and dress themselves….

Mtlfan

i want Haley to make the top 5. She has some affectation that i don’t like but I found her singing interesting.

Dakota01

I’m not impressed with the girls at all. They are all trying way too hard. I’m not a big fan of female voices anyway, and these girls have done nothing to convince me otherwise.

CindyM:
03/02/2011 at 8:56 pm
So, Ryan said that the WC picks were tomorrow night so the rumor posted earlier not right? I would think if it changed, they would have edited it right..?

CindyM, I would think it would have been edited out if it changed, but I guess we won’t know for sure until tomorrow.

Duke

It’s a reality show, Duke. You must chill.

hahahahahaha. i’m alrady over it…thats how boring these contestants are…

no but really, haley was the best so far.

aislinn

Haley was trying too hard to play at being sex kitten – just ended up looking like a little girl holding her mom’s hairbrush as microphone. Her voice isn’t really big enough for that song choice either.

Mtlfan

Julie sings not bad but she’s utterly forgettable

stwbcross

There should be a rule on Idol that you Never, Ever, Ever sing a KC song. Bad, bad, bad.

I like Julie too. She made a few changes to the song I liked, but missed a few notes too. She looks like a clone of the Glee actress.

Marie Ruffin

Randy is being real. He’s looking at from a producers and band player’s side. JLO & Steven looking at them from entertainment side. The girls look like stars but for me the two best are Karen and Lauren…next would be Ashton and Naima. Too bad they all can’t go through, because these girls are good.

Lucy1234

I had been agreeing with Randy until Haley. I actually liked her performance and thought her vocals were spot on. Some seems to think Randy’s opinion is the be all end all and I think that we have heard some good criticism from Steven and JLo. They do have more vocal experience than Randy.

CindyM

Marie Ruffin:
03/02/2011 at 9:05 pm

Lauren is “last”….hmmm….is she the pimp star?

No she’s not. Pia is last.

1952

I’m missing last year … this stuff is sounding old school diva

NOLA

Turner is the only one who has given me goosebumps.

lostinidol

Man, I really wanted to like the women this year, but so far i’m just not feelin’ it.

Amen. I am seriously disappointed because there are some good vocalists but so far we’ve had lounge lizards, sex kittens, cruise ship singers and karaoke. Randy is doing a good job trying to give direction. Simon would have sliced and diced the whole bunch.

MrDuffin

I think they are missing Rickey Minor too,,,,,

movin2thabeet

Sometimes I agree with Randy, other times I vehemently disagree. Case in point – Haley. I thought she was terrific. No, it wasn’t a perfect performance, but neither has anyone else’s been. I thought it was a very solid start. I love Haley’s voice – her growl, her runs, and the whole sexy vibe. She has landed solidly into my top 3 tonight, along with Naima and Lauren Turner.

girlygirl

why are there so many jazz-y arrangements tonight? that seems odd to me

Lucy1234

I did not like Lauren’s stage presence – her voice was good but I don’t want to watch her. So far I liked the guys better.

blissful

Jlo is getting more specific with the critiques and Steven is still channeling Ellen.

Valentin432

Thia doing an impression of Charice on Glee right now, I just can’t take her seriously.

gangreen29

auren is “last”….hmmm….is she the pimp star?

Um, no Pia is going last. It is right at the top of the page LOL.

I’m not impressed with the girls at all. They are all trying way too hard. I’m not a big fan of female voices anyway, and these girls have done nothing to convince me otherwise.

Well, since you aren’t a fan of women singers maybe that is why they don’t impress you. Seems people need to have certain anatomical parts to impress you..

bridgette12

Dakota01:
03/02/2011 at 9:06 pm
I’m not impressed with the girls at all. They are all trying way too hard. I’m not a big fan of female voices anyway, and these girls have done nothing to convince me otherwise.

I’m not impressed either, I think whoever is helping them choose songs and arrangement need to stop.

wonderings

Single spotlight of pimpage! Acapella intro? They want Thia and her heart to go on.

Marie Ruffin

Thia — no no no. Started off really good, but the song is a snooze song. She has a great tone to her voice, but I hate that song.

jasmaree

I’m usually not a Thia fan, but she NAILED it.

keware

Thank God for Thia!!!!! Now that one I will remember.

Nuts 0f Wonder

I kind of like this.. nice control

Cindij

what did he do
I am on the west coast and just reading

Liva:
03/02/2011 at 8:55 pm
looks like Ryan is going to have his hands full with James!

Impulse control issue, yet most enjoyable when it happens to Ryan. Well done, James!

soccerboi

Wow Thia! Easily best of the night…that girl can SING

tinawina

Thia! That was pretty. That girl can sing. Still kind of robotic, but she can work on that.

blissful

Agree about the jazzy arrangments — no one is sounding real current tonight.

girlygirl

ok — this is the first time that I’ve liked Thia. Before, she always came off as a bit too pagenty/robot-y for me. But that was very nice

Soberba

OMG, Thia was GREAT!!!!!!

aislinn

ok, Thia gets major points for starting a capella – it’s really taking a risk that you’ll be on pitch when the piano comes in. Not my favorite tonight, but impressive start to that song.

Junior

Thia has a lovely voice but this is the type of song you choose in a local talent contest or beauty pagent, not American Idol.

Does this song really represent the type of artist she is?

Tony

There’s a PIA and a THIA? lol

ri

are we having audio issues again? i almost asked my dad if i could borrow his hearing aid so i could hear Thia.

Liva

Haley = Miley on stevia

heeheehee… stevia is a natural sweetener I put on my blueberries. That druggie substance is salvia. :-)

Duke

Thia = best of the bunch so far. dont ever say 15 yr olds cant handle the competition. i wonder if she realized how shitty the sound was and opted for that arrangement….perfect pitch. my fav so far

ReginaFilange

This was excellent, but the excitement went down instead of up.

Randy comparing her to Michael Jackson. . . I don’t see the connection at all, but ok.

Liva

I’m sorry, can someone please tell me … how old is Thia?

iluvai

I thought Thia was boring.

steph6449

I was in the other room and didn’t see Thia on screen, but heard it. It sounded ok but sometimes like she was stumbling a bit, or maybe bad microphone technique where the audio levels were uneven.

thesheriff

I’m waiting anxiously to have my semi blind date with Idol tonight through the comments here. Can someone please tell me – do any of these girls have a personality – like Kelly C had? Pains me to say – even Kellie P? I haven’t enjoyed an AI girl’s personality since……ummmmm (mildy) – Amanda and Allison.

Valentin432:
03/02/2011 at 9:10 pm
Thia doing an impression of Charice on Glee right now, I just can’t take her seriously.

Thia would have been better off trying out for Glee instead of Idol.

fuzzywuzzy

Lauren A. annoys me, but she’s good. Perfect song choice.

tinawina

Lauren… it was okay. I’m disappointed in her stage presence. It really wasn’t there.

aislinn

Single spotlight of pimpage! Acapella intro? They want Thia and her heart to go on.

“They?” erm, no, the contestants get to choose how they’re presented. She may have been given advice, but it was up to her to pick her arrangement and presentation.

Duke

Lauren and This are miles ahead of the pack…AND AT 15 AND 16!!!! lolz

Valentin432

Lauren A should crush the voting competition tonight, like Scotty did yesterday (at least on DI)

soccerboi

Lauren let em have it. She is a natural

Tony

Lauren is ready to tour TONIGHT.

The voice and moves are already there.

steph6449

Michael Jackson comparison? Eesh. After hearing last night that we had the next Luther Vandross, I guess there must be something to reincarnation after all ;)
.

Lauren A, not bad. Funny somehow in her expressions at the beginning, almost felt to me like she was lip-synching even though she obviously couldn’t be. Lol. Most of it I liked, but there were some parts where it was a little grating.

Oksana2000

I’m bored.

jasmaree

Lauren A. was okay. Not good enough to stand out among some of the performances we’ve heard tonight. They’re really over-praising it.

Willis

So is Lauren trying to dress like her mom or is her mom trying to dress like her. I can’t tell. She sounded real good though.

mak

Can someone please tell me – do any of these girls have a personality – like Kelly C had? Pains me to say – even Kellie P? I haven’t enjoyed an AI girl’s personality since……ummmmm (mildy) – Amanda and Allison.

I thought Lauren Turner seemed like she had a great personality and I hope it will come out even more this season. She’s sarcastic and funny and I would probably be friends with her.

1952

she’s no Kelly

keware

I liked Lauren….but still think Thia is the best so far. Lauren might have a likability problem with some though.

lili_anne7

Lauren A. was pretty good, She does remind me of a Kelly/Carrie hybrid.

SparklesATL

Lauren rocked it out. sooooo glad she didn’t go the pageant rout like all the others. Different = Good

mmb

Lauren is seriously annoying but I thought she gave probably the best performance of the night. She kinda has a good pop country voice. Can’t stand the persona but gotta give her singing props

Mtlfan

Lauren A. is really a stand out tonight! I really liked her performance. She has the right goods to make a good pop star.
Thia was beautifully boring..

HermeticallySealed

I’m not a fan of a certain type of female voice (Jessica Simpson/Kelly Clarkson/Beyonce), but I like female voices with character (Annie Lennox/Cyndi Lauper/Allison Iraheta). I like Rachael’s voice, though found her singing tonight a bit off. But the rest? So far they fall into that tone I just don’t find appealing. I think many of them are great singers, but just don’t find them exciting.

::shrug:: Somehow though, the intimation that those like me are misogynists for not slavering over these contestants seems a bit speciest.

1952

Thia and Naimi the best tonight

Duke

I think a Lauren Aliana vs. Scotty would be a finale to remember that could really help idol’s numbers

girlygirl

still not blown away by Lauren A, but that was a solid performance. I like her much better when she’s not playing up to Steven

And “Peaches” Seacrest? Ok

Valentin432

The spoilers were spot on with the boys but the girls were much more even, I’m sure Thia and Lauren A (probably Pia) will get through but it’s really wide open after that.

Marie Ruffin

Lauren A. was okay. Not good enough to stand out among some of the performances we’ve heard tonight. They’re really over-praising it.

Totally disagree, the girls are bringing it better than the boys. Unfortunately the voters are majority women, so it’s going to be men for the win.
My faves: Lauren Alaina (and I agree she’s got more in her); Lauren T; Ashton.

lili_anne7

Why is there so much Thia love here? I thought she was boring. Sure her vocals are good, but she won’t be appealing to the younger generation.

Mtlfan

i agree with soccerboi that Lauren A. is really a “natural”

Soberba

I think Lauren Alaina is this year’s winner. Not because I love her (I don’t get her), but there’s something about her that screams winner to me. Well, good luck to her, I’m not a fan but I don’t mind if she wins.

thesheriff

sarcasm is good!! thank you mak!

kvwicks13

Don’t get the Thia love. I find her very annoying. I like the hearing aide comment above. There were parts I could barely hear her!

Junior

Girls>Guys

Saying it over and over again won’t make it true ;)

blissful

Lauren is making better styling choices. She’s got the power and range, but I’m a fan of her transitions. I’m not sure she’s the next Kelly. Still prefer Lauren T.

Tony

If Idol wants a winner that will sell insanely well, they will rig the votes to make it a Scott vs. Lauren A. finale.

Lauren is so effortless. She really is. Incredible talent.

blmetsfan

Lauren Alaina is gonna have to really bomb to not make the top 5.

HR

Randy thinks she’s a mixture of Carrie and Kelly. I guess it’s possible she could be a decoy but I have a feeling this girl is the one they want to win.

Thia was good but she needs to choose different songs.

My favorite tonight so far is Lauren T.

aidancash

Lauran A was great. They need to quit saying she is like Kelly calrkson. She is more like Carrie U. She chose reba so it is obvious she wants to do country music. she chose Faith hill in her audtion so let her be who she is. It would be funny if her and scotty the to country bumkins were winner and runnerup. What would they do with two country kids competing together in the same market. So far they are the two I would say are current and marketable when it comes to their sound.

girlygirl

of the two Laurens, Turner >>> Alaina. (IMO, of course) MUCH more unique.

keware

Pia–Thia–Lauren A. The rest can just head on home. The boys were much more memorable as a whole.

iluvai

Loved Lauren A.

Monterey

Thia has a lovely voice but this is the type of song you choose in a local talent contest or beauty pagent, not American Idol.

Does this song really represent the type of artist she is?

maybe, maybe not. But what it did was show that she has PERFECT pitch, and showcase just how good her voice is. I would have to say that that song is her, and represents who she is because if you saw any of her pre-idol stuff those are the type of songs that she sings. She’s 15 but has very OLD musical taste. And I’m pretty sure she grew up singing that song as well

Marie Ruffin

The nice thing about these girls is that they are pretty and they have stage presence, something we didn’t get previously….they’re fearless.

Valentin432

Wow, I didn’t get it when the poster said but whoever wrote that Pia looks like a prettier Kara was spot on.

fuzzywuzzy

Pia was terrific! Love her!

Tony

That sounded kinda shouty to me.

Still, very very good

jasmaree

Pia was really good at the end, but for the most part she was boring. The spoilers led me to believe I was gonna be blown away.

Duke

i think Pia thought being extremely tan would distract me from those high notes at the end that were….ok, they werent too bad…but they were a lil off….

gangreen29

Pia is amazing.

aidancash

There is your pop princess

s0x_prisoner

Pia – ACTUALLY got goosebumps after that. Great job.

flakky

Thia was really good. Lauren A was meh, and Pia really nailed it

lili_anne7

LOVED PIA !!!!

soccerboi

Wow PIA! unbelieveable is right…

tinawina

Pia was good, but standing ovation good? That felt a little overpraised. I do want her in the top 12 though.

iluvai

Pia is S10 American Idol!

soccerboi

Wow PIA! unbelievable is right…

aislinn

That was well performed, Pia was in tune and had good stage presence.

girlygirl

Pia sang that beautifully, but I was a little bored

Soberba

I changed my mind. Pia is the winner. She was amazing.

wonderings

heeheehee… stevia is a natural sweetener I put on my blueberries. That druggie substance is salvia. :-)

Pia has just gone waaaaay up in my estimation. Not just pretty, but in great voice, in tune and seemed quite genuine and connected to the song.

mmb

WTF judges. That was not even close to being one of the top idol performances!!!!

keware

LOL. Going from Pia to the recap of Tatanisha was almost comical.

Owlgirl

Thia was the best of the night for me. Usually, something about her feels a little off, but I thought she killed it tonight.

Trying to decide who to vote for now.

webster

nvm – site keeps hanging and I can’t tell what I’ve posted. I’ll shut up now.

tinawina

I cannot call it. At all. I have no idea who the top 5 are.

TaTynisha, Rachel and Julie are gone though. That’s all I know.

Willis

Pia fan! I think I enjoyed every performance tonight. Could stand to lose Kendra and Ta-Tynisa but would like to keep the rest.

sunchick

Same disclaimer as last night…not familiar with most of them, so mostly first impressions…

I am not a huge Alison Iraheta fan or anything, but I’m starting to think she would have bitch slapped most of these girls, talent wise. Just saying. Diva belters on parade! Le sigh. My eyes are glazing over…

UGG. That Haley creature bugged so much. I think every time one note would do, she sang 10. Just no. I found myself wishing I could duct tape her mouth closed.

So far I still really like Naima, who brought poise and maturity to her performance (and changed up Summertime in a way that worked- color me shocked) and I just discovered Lauren Turner, who kind of has a young Bette Midler vibe. Dig her. Probably my favorites, along with Only 15, because OMG a song from Fame! It’s one of my guilty pleasure movies. I like that Only 15 did not do a scenery chewing thing like most of these other girls and just sang a really pretty song really well. I’m not over the moon, but there was something sweet about it.

Hot Pants Blond had that screechy/shrill thing going on that some female singers get that I can’t stand. Do no want.

I can’t even speak about the awful arrangement of Criminal. It was…criminal. What a waste of a killer tune. And I wanted to like it. I even kind of liked the cape reveal. But the arrangement was so. bad.

Not!Kelly pretty much phoned in that performance of Breakaway. Meh.

Speaking of Not Kellys, there is nothing remotely Kelly-ish about this blond girl who is being compared to Kelly. Kelly was so real and relatable, and this chick is more in your face, look at me look at me. But she can work a stage like whoa.

Annnnd the return of the hugeass glory note pimp spot! Welcome back, Nigel. Great pipes, but not my thing. The show tonight was pretty much not my thing, actually. A lot of them seemed similar- pretty girl, nice voice. I was kind of hoping for someone crazy and edgy to pop up, or quirky, to break it up. I liked the guys better, tbh, as a whole, even though I think it’s a girl’s year.

webster

….and here’s my take on the final six:

Ashton Jones – “Love Over Me” by Monica
This is getting repetitive. Lots of good voices tonight, but almost know personality where it counts. Yes, they don’t seem like robots, but nothing that seems like they think while they sing. (I think this is a down side from people learning songs by hearing other people sing them. I know that’s the normal way, but it sure lends itself to copy-catism. Nothing memorable here, except some more fantastic hair. I’m so glad natural curl seems to be making a comeback. It’s a look I love. I liked Ashton in Hollywood, so I wouldn’t mind her going through, but I worry she’ll bore me with this stuff.

Julie Zorrilla – “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson
Horrible. What a stinker of a stupid song and an annoying performance. What is the point of that? Stupid outfit. Clearly wasn’t ordinary clothes, but didn’t seem to relate to the performance either. Looked like dress-up just for the sake of dress-up.

Haley Reinhart – “Fallin” by Alicia Keyes
She wants to be a visionary? Why is she in a singing contest? I think she should forget that, and just sing. I like her voice and finally, something that sounds interesting. I like this. Awesome. She’s singing the SONG, not just singing with some random words that happen to be in the song. Not perfect, but there was a point to that performance. (Huh, on this one I agree with Steven, not Randy) And since I’m on a hair kick: she needs to brush her hair out.

Thia Megia – “Out Here On My Own” from Fame
Too boring to comment on. I can’t remember any thing she did in Hollywood, so I have no idea if she has idea one in her brain, but nothing here. (And no, Randy, it’s not all about the tone.)

Lauren Alaina – “Turn on the Radio” by Reba McEntire
Not my kind of music, but good performance. Pitched a bit low for her, but otherwise, good delivery and connection. Can’t stand her personality, but that was a good performance. And she’s dressed better than normal. I am realizing, that all of the girls seem fairly comfortable on the stage.

Pia Toscano – “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders
I love the Pretenders, but this isn’t my favorite song. I hope she does it well (After the break, in my best Ryan Seacrest (and is he going for Durbin’s stupid tall hair? Because, no)) Ok. Great voice, but kind of shouty, and ultimately boring. There is just not room in my life for anymore belting of ballads.

— And although I think there’s a lot of talent this season, there’s no one, boy or girl, who’s got me really excited. Right in this second, probably closest to rooting for Haley. Never would have figured that.

HR

Lauren A is going to be in with her fanbase. That leaves four spots. Based on tonight Lauren T., Pia, and Thia should make it.

Fourth is up in the air. Karen, Niama, Ashthon and a couple others could make the case for it.

HermeticallySealed

There is your pop princess

Pop Princess 80’s style. I think most of them were technically good, but the sound was so very Love Boat, though I think song choice had more to do with that than anything else. Given better choices, I think they could be more interesting. Maybe.

Of them all Laura A. sounded the most current, but I just don’t like her voice. Ta-Tynisa tried, but just really wasn’t up to it, and the sound mix did not help her.

jasmaree

TaTynisha, Rachel and Julie are gone though. That’s all I know.

Definitely. No way they’re making it through.

I’m thinking Thia, Pia, Lauren A. (not my cuppa), Kendra, and Naima. Not as sure as I was with the guys though.

blissful

Pia was great, but I’m not a fan of the song.

A thought about the arrangements — it’s almost like they wanted to showcase the girls’ voices (except for the first singer). All of them are stronger vocally than the boys.

Staying: Pia, Lauren A., Thia, Lauren T., Haley
WC: Ashton or Karen

Soberba

My favorites were: Pia, Kendra, Naima and Thia.

Julie BOMBED big time.

The second worst was (and it pains me to say it) Rachel.

The girls were overall much better than the guys.

Inconnu

I liked all the girls tonight except Julie, Ta-Tynisa and Rachel.

lili_anne7

The Girls wee amazing tonight. I Loved so many of them that I have no idea who will make it into the Top 5. ITA that Rachel, Ta-tynisa, and Julie have no chance.

Bold will make it thru for sure, deleted doesn’t have a prayer….and the other ones i think could go any way…but i italicized the 3 i want to make it: haley and lauren turner

Valentin432

Lauren A and Thia should get in based on demo appeal + performance.
Pia also has a spot based on performance + pimp spot.
Other than that hard to call.

windmills

The s10 girls totally blow the guys out of the water. Even with the bad song choices the girls were better and they especially handled the band better. Other than Ta-Tynisha.

http://www.amadcow2.com amadcow2

my thoughts…
Last night there were 5 distinct performances that stood out, tonight, I count 2, maybe 3. I see the women bunched more in the middle than the men.

Pia – Won the night
Lauren T. – a close second
Naima – great voice, great look

Lauren A. – I really didn’t want to place cowgirl barbie in the top 5, but she really did a good job.

Karen – She’s got a beautiful voice, a great look, and maturity. I would place her in the top five, but I’m thinking she’s fighting for a w/c slot.

Thia – The teen robot will probably place in the top 5 *sigh*

These four and probably Karen will be vying for probably 2 of 3 w/c slots (if in fact they go to 13 and do w/c tomorrow as Ryan announced tonight).
Rachel
Haley
Kendra
Ashton

Unless some alternate universe of voting happens, these two should be going home.
Ta-Tynisa
Julie

Valentin432

I don’t knwo what is happening with DI right now but it seems like it’s going to be useless tonight (would be hilarious if they predicted right tough)

Tony

ROFLMAO! Check out Dial Idol

Chai

The competition ended strong with the last 3 singers, Thia, Lauren and Pia. For me the weakest performances were by Ta-Tynisa, Rachel and Julie. Rachel’s performance was a huge disappointment. Overall, I’d say the girl’s performances were more individual and less karaoke than the guys. I enjoyed last night and tonight a lot. So many good voices this year. I’m not sure what’s going on with the sound mix? I had to turn up the volume for some singers.

Owlgirl

I’m figuring Dial Idol is probably screwed up right now, but it’d be kind of hilarious if Ta-Tynisa had this secret, enormous fanbase.

Mtlfan

Overall I think it’s the best 12 girls I never heard on this show.
The ones i want to see in the top 5 : Pia, Lauren T., Lauren A., Haley, Naima.
It’s probably not going to happen but I’d love to see more of Rachel. If this girl can get enough confidence and show off, she’s my fav; she has such an amazing voice and interesting singing style.
I could see more of Ashton too

Indigobunting

Pia my fave by far.

I’ve been begging for a Pretenders song on Idol and she didn’t disappoint.

Naima also really good- great look too.

webster

I’m missing Ricky Minor. Idol band was never great, but these arrangments sucked.

blmetsfan

Dial Idol is quite funny!

I loved Pia! I thought Lauren Alaina was good, but maybe not as good as what the judges were saying.

Feel bad for Julie…really liked her until tonight. Talk about bombing.

AT&T Online Voting for American Idol is not currently available in your location. Thank you for your interest.”

Now I am in the correct time zone (Central) and I voted online last night. Guess they don’t want me to vote for any of the girls.

lili_anne7

Dial Idol cannot be right. Ta-tynisa safe, Rachel and julie also safe? that would be a terrible Top 5.

primeminister

My individual favorites are from the guys side so far, but I can say wihtout doubt that the girls are KILLING in terms of consistency this year. So many great vocalists!

Didn’t watch Ta-Tynisa or Naima…

Kendra – Great soprano voice. Instead of coming alive she goes a lilttle dead when she sings. She’s just not a captivating performer. B

Karen – She connected to the lyrics and has a strong voice. She made Hero a little more palatable for me. I liked this performance but it’s far from my favorite. B+

Lauren T – Such a powerhouse. Jennifer was right about the physical confidence, but unlike some of the other girls who are more attitude than talent, Lauren’s got the vocal goods. What I love is that she has a lot of potential to grow. A-

Ashton – Meh. I find her personality annoying. C

Julie – Completely wrong song for her. It made her voice seem small and thin (maybe it really is small and thin). I think her dresses would be cute for parties, not the Idol stage – kind of ridiculous. F

Haley – “I keep on UGHhhfalling in and UGHhhhout of love.” She’s clearly gifted but her affected singing style is not my cup of tea. She growls too much for my liking, doesn’t sing constanants, and definitely sings through her nose. Her stylistic choices are so contrived, and it’s all style over substance. If we could vote someone off, she would be my pick (even if she’s not the worst). C-

Thia – She got the PIMP lighting. I really like that she did it without the band, and it’s the best I’ve heard her sound. The performance was solid, yet a little robotic. I disagree with Stephen, she had some pitch problems. Randy’s Michael Jackson comparison – WHA?! B+

Lauren A – What Thia lacks in personality Lauren’s got in spades. She just needs to lay off the cleavage-revealing shirts. I thought that she picked the right song for her that hid her breathing/phrasing problems. I hate to admit it….but she sounded really strong and full. Inevitable winner? A-

Pia – Thank God for Pia. So nuanced, so perfect. I liked the beginning better than the end….but she definitley gave it her all. I’m glad one of the girls can challenge Lauren A for the crown. Oh, and she looks like Selena Gomez. A

I don’t knwo what is happening with DI right now but it seems like it’s going to be useless tonight (would be hilarious if they predicted right tough)

ROFLMAO! Check out Dial Idol

Amusing, eh? But look at the raw numbers. Ta-Ty and Julie’s are so freakishly low (about 50 each right now) that a few busy signals in the beginning skew everything.

Duke

Um, WTF is up with Dial Idol?

Hazehel

I don’t knwo what is happening with DI right now but it seems like it’s going to be useless tonight (would be hilarious if they predicted right tough)

You should ignore the results for Ta-Tynisa and Julie. They are likely to be errors. Sometimes some lines get messed up you get busy signal when it is the line that is the problem. You can tell that something is wrong if you look at the raw number, only few votes were cast for Ta-Tynisa but there are more busy signals than normal. Could be just one person’s line that’s causing the problem. Sometimes the owner of the site will remove those numbers that look funny later.

yaddabing

Tonight was by FAR better than last night. A good, solid start.

Lots of potential, and I’m excited to see what happens when Interscope starts working with them.

Disappointed in Julie though. Sad to see her probably go :/

Mtlfan

omg Tatanysa and Julie are deemed to not be voted off by DI … rofl
(wishing those are errors)

houstonrufus23

Wow. I thought all the last three girls were very impressive, especially for a first live show. I also liked Ashton–I don’t think that song showed her at her best. Really, only a couple girls for me were not so great or bad. Those are good numbers for a first week. I am definitely thinking it could be a girl’s year, finally. A number of really good, attractive singers. Some really good singers among the guys too, but in terms of turning out some vocal showstoppers in the coming weeks, the girls are very promising this year.

I know some are knocking Thia, but I loved her voice and the show kind of lacked spark until her performance. The shift in tone and her pretty much flawless vocal stood out. Lauren is just ridiculous. I’m thinking she may have been created in a lab or something. She is ready to go on tour that one. And Pia was a wonderful surprise. I hadn’t realize she had that kind of range and control. Looking forward to the coming weeks.

Although I will say the judges better step it up. I was really enjoying Steven and JLo until tonight when, for the most part, all they could do was lavish every singer with over the top praise. They both have it in them to give good critiques–we’ve seen it. They need to step it up for the live shows.

Amusing, eh? But look at the raw numbers. Ta-Ty and Julie’s are so freakishly low (about 50 each right now) that a few busy signals in the beginning skew everything.

Yes, I think it’s safe to throw out Tatynisa and Julie’s score, after that their rankings make much more sense.

Liva

Site crashing?! Business must be good. Congrats MJ!

gabriel oak

I liked Naima, Thia and Pia. I didn’t find Thia robotic at all. She’s the only one who wasn’t posturing and screaming. Pia was very good but the end of her song is why people laugh at Idol. Great singers don’t have to oversing like that.

I know Lauren A is talented but I just don’t get her appeal. I would NEVER buy her album.

Karen reminded me of someone on a beauty pageant show. Sweet but from the 1950s.

Lucy1234

I would compare Lauren more to Carrie than Kelly – she is definately going the country route. Great voice and stage presence. She should be a lock for top 10 as should Pia. As to the rest of them – I’m not so sure.

My top 5

Pia
Lauren A
Haley
Lauren T
Ashton or Naima

lili_anne7

Can we just have a Top 12 with 9 girls and 3 guys? That would be awesome.

tinawina

Lauren A and Thia should get in based on demo appeal + performance.
Pia also has a spot based on performance + pimp spot.
Other than that hard to call.

Yup.

I want Naima, Ashton, Lauren T and Karen to fill out the rest… but I can’t have them all! Ugh. I don’t like Haley but she might make it. I wouldn’t mind Kendra.

Tomorrow will sting no matter how it ends up.

tomr

There will not be a girl winner again this year! So many of the guys were so much better than the very best of the girls. That final performance did not deserve a standing O! The pimping of the girls will not work.There are six guys in my top six. I’m sticking with Karen tonight based solely on potential (the song choice was terrible!)

CindyM

dizzyfeet

I’m getting frustrated with our sound! I don’t know where it’s going wrong. The mix between voice and band is okay when it leaves the studio 19 minutes ago via Echofon

gabriel oak

Has Randy never listened to jazz singers? Summertime does not have to be sung like a dirge. It’s a classic song. Fantasia did her version. Naima did a more Ella-Lena Horne type version.

Valentin432

So many strong opinions on this guys vs girls thing, I would be hard pressed to say one thing either way at this point.

fuzzywuzzy

Dialidol is really messed up tonight, although it’s still early. They have Tatynisa and Julie safe (so far). WTF?

I thought the girls owned the guys. The only guy performances I remember that were good were Jacob and James. Casey oversang his song completely and Paul’s voice wounded weak.

MayMirabella

My favorites were Lauren T and Pia.

MrDuffin

You can sure tell dizzyfeet is back. He needs Simon to reign him in!

lili_anne7

My top 5 are:

Pia
Lauren T
Lauren A
Ashton
Naima

webster

My hopes for top 5:

For sure want: Haley and Lauren T

Want, if they can bring a better vocal (Rachel) or a better interpretation (Pia or Ashton or Karen)

Don’t want, but grudgingly think she deserves it: Lauren A.

I have this depressing vision of this churning inevitably towards a Scotty, Lauren A. smack down. I can forsee a chain in which I’d have to acknowledge them deserving it, but still having no interest in the show. But, I can also imagine Lauren A. going all Tonya Harding on Scotty(or vice versa), which would then, of course, make the show interesting again.

milwlovesadam

What an exciting night! So far Naima, Lauren T, Lauren A, Pia and Karen are my favorites. And, may I say that all the gals had so much glamour going on. Whether they all have this much style and class, or whether they are being glammed up and styled, I love it. They looked beautiful and had so much stage presence tonight.

Idol is baaaaack!!

CindyM

Thia and Lauren Alaina are the two that are trending on Twitter right now. Earlier, Pia was also trending.

Miss Blue

Well, this was pretty meh for me.

Love Pia and Lauren Turner. Hope Rachel makes it because I think she’s better than this huge misstep. Same with Karen – hated the song choice, she’s better than that. Surprisingly for me, I really liked Naima. Haven’t been in her fan club and I thought the song choice was a huge mistake, but she really hit this for me.

My choices to make it: Pia, Lauren T., Karen, Rachel, Naima.

If I even get two of those I’ll be surprised.

ETA: Julie needs to go now, just for that beyond horrendous song choice. She sunk her own ship.

http://www.dallascowboys.com GeminiDolly

I really loved Lauren Alaina. She is a very cute bubbly girl with a great voice. Country, pop, country pop whatever it is, she will be great.

soccerboi

Why must it always be the girls are better than the guys or visa versa. Both groups had their stand outs and it should be a good year.
My top girls:
1- Pia
2- Thia
3- Lauren A
4- Lauren T
5-Naimoi/Ashton

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/303318/jimmy_boyd.html jimmyboyd2

Dialidol is really messed up tonight, although it’s still early. They have Tatynisa and Julie safe (so far). WTF?

I still think Julie may be safe. Even Sanjaya was top 4 one night in his season. LOL.

Overall enjoyed this show a lot more than the guys yesterday. The better ones I’m remembering most are Naima, Lauren A. (though I didn’t love it, but she was good and had energy), and maybe Karen. Pia was good but that’s not the kind of performance I really enjoy. Too controlled or something.

HR

The girls were overall better then the guys. You could take Scotty, James and Jacob and fill out the rest with girl’s and it would be fine with me.

alonzo7

Another person I found so annoying did really well tonight-Lauren Alaina. Last night James totally surprised me.
Best vocal of the night goes to Pia-never really noticed her until tonight-must have been saving that.
I’m finding it hard to narrow down to 5.
Pia
Lauren Alaina
Karen
Naimi
Kendra
That will never happen but that’s who I like.
It will probably be: Thia
Pia
Lauren Alaina
Lauren Turner
?????

Miss Blue

I have this depressing vision of this churning inevitably towards a Scotty, Lauren A. smack down.

Ugh. In which case, I’d be able to see the Survivor finals, as there is no way I’ll still be watching Idol if those two are the last ones standing. Blech to both of them, particularly Scott.

Never thought I could loathe a contestant more than Fantasia, on a personal level, but Scott has proved me wrong. And I refuse to call him Scotty – grow the hell up, Scott.

wjmtv

If Pia can embrace whatever ethnicity she might have, and back off the WHITE, she could have a shot. That was an impressive performance. But Naima and (wowowow) Kendra are going to give her some competition.

blmetsfan

It should be a really good season. Lots of great contestants, a good mix in terms of their styles. I’m excited!

s0x_prisoner

Wait, so the wild cards will be picked tomorrow? (Regarding MJ’s tweet)

fuzzywuzzy

I think that Dialidol predictions are going to be off this year with the advent of Internet voting.

St.Lucia

Really enjoyed the girls tonight! They pretty much crushed the guys overall.

My favorites were probably Pia, Lauren T., Lauren A(yeah, I can’t stand her, but I was entertained I can’t help it! The song suited her), and Kendra.

I really was let down by Karen, because the song was just so boring. I like the fact that she showed a little by singing it in Spanish, but the song sucks.

I can’t figure out what I think about Haley. There are moments I really think she has this very interesting voice and then moments I’m driven nuts by it. I don’t think the song helped showcase it at all.

Tataynsia is obvious fodder.

I like Ashton’s voice, but like Randy said, I really didn’t care for the song.

Rachel made me uncomfortable singing “Criminal” it was very, very odd.

ETA: Thia makes me want to throw things at the TV. It’s so programmed! It’s very much a formula with Thia where it’s like “Play up camera here, hit big note here, look dazzling now” and it just falls flat for me. I don’t think the girl has a single clue what she’s singing about. I’m must bothered by her advancing because I’m going to be inundated with songs that are too big for her to sing. She’s never going to sing like a 16 year old that she is, she’s going to sing like she’s 16 going on 35 with songs that she’s got no clue about.

chili1000

After last night and tonight I have no clue who the final 12 will be, but I can say that I think the judges did a damn fine job picking the top 24. The top 12 could go any number of ways and I think you could make a strong argument for it.

movin2thabeet

amadcow2, I came out feeling something very similar to your rankings. I only saw a couple of top performances and even those weren’t worthy of standing ovations. They were just solid on a night of meh to weak. I also made 3 1/2 groups:

Top:
Lauren T – yes, powerful pipes and fun
Haley – sure, a little wobbly but sexy, a little raunchy and also fun
Naima – yeah, a little clubby, but I liked it for what it was
Pia – over-rated, but solid. I hate when performances are so obvious paint-by-number competition songs. that’s what I heard her do, so it didn’t move me. but it was still solid.

Almost there:
Lauren A – the ultimate kiss-up. loud, kind of obnoxious, and way over-rated. I don’t get much likability factor from her. yes, she’s uber-confident and owns the stage, but I didn’t much care.
Thia – I wanted to like her, but it was too textbook. I didn’t feel it. I think her concentration on the tone, leaves little room for soulfulness.

Mid:
Kendra – don’t care for her voice. she screams ‘poser’ to me. didn’t connect.
Karen – that was pageanty to me. I thought it was the perfect performance for a Miss America contest. I was really disturbed to see that kind of vibe on Idol, especially cause it might work.

Bad/Basement Bad:
Ta-Tynisa – not ready.
Rachel – really surprised. her confidence was way ahead of her skills. hard to watch.
Ashton – I bet people will think she’s as good as she thinks she is. it’s clear she loves the stage and attention. I don’t think she has the talent to back it up. I didn’t enjoy that at all. if you looked and listened beyond her bravado, there wasn’t much there.
Julie – she is way out of her league. reminded me of a battle between the song and background singers on one end and Julie on the other…and she was not victorious.

The scary thing is that 2 of those in my basement are now at the top on that site. How in the world?

gangreen29

I don’t think Lauren A has a shot in hell of winning, but I do think she has the best chance of anyone to blow up after the show.

ITA. The judges might think it’s a girl’s year, but in my opinion the talent is sub-par to the guys, overall. And the best of the guys are way better than the best of the girls.

But then again, I don’t follow the “girl’s year” stuff. Just let the best singer win – every year. Which would result in a pretty even split in the long term. But since that’s already been blown all to hell, I’d like to see it come back this year. Meaning – it’s a guy’s year.

lol i voted like 80 times tonight-both shows this week werent that great, but still :) support haha
ta-tynasia-kinda fun, ok, CURRENT
naima-very pretty dress, rrly good
kendra-dont even remember
rachel-FLOVED it! (relative to the rest)
karen-alright. the spanish was pretty. her hair looks nice straight-ish.
lauren t-ewwwwwww…dont like her voice at all… and her double chine kept jiggling (sorry i know thats mean, rude, and REALLY immature(of course) but it was distracting…)
julie-BREAKaWAY-YESSS! One of my favorite songs ever, and probably like the first song I learned all the lyrics too hahaha..julie was ok-ish i guess, but i liked the song…she WEARS TOO MANY DRESSES!!! i mean its cute and all, but she’s like obsessed with them-every.single.time!
ashtonnn-FLOVEEEEEE HER :D haha and her diva attitude and the neck thing :P and i LOVE her dive eye-f%cking the camera loll
Haley-FLOVE her. she couldve been better tonight, but i love her voice
Thia-dont even remember!
Lauren-ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGGG! She’s so pretty!!! :D great performance
Pia-good, rrly predictable song…very good tho, but i dont think it deserved a standing O. now that simon’s gone i think they’ll hand those out more, but it wont be special, like it was when simon cowell gave adam lambert a standing ovation for mad world…

I thought the girls were okay. Maybe more consistent than the boys last night. I really don’t know who the five will be that make it through. I’m thinking Pia, Lauren A., and Naima, but I could be totally wrong. My issue with Pia is she has that “manufactured beauty” look to her, and, because of her appearance she’ll probably be just fine without Idol. She reminds me of the preppy girls in high school who somehow have the world wrapped around their finger. (I know, I shouldn’t judge just on her appearance, but I can’t help but think that I’m at least partially right.) Thia’s vocals were technically there, but I’m not sure how emotionally she is connected to her songs. Personality-wise, I don’t feel much of a connection to the girls. The boys in general are more fun. I’m definitely going to continue rooting for Tim Halperin; he is an artist (I love his original songs), has personality, and can play piano.

soccerboi

I don’t think Lauren A has a shot in hell of winning, but I do think she has the best chance of anyone to blow up after the show.

Why do you think that? I agree with you that she could blow up but I think she is probably the favorite to win the thing right now. Not my favorite but the judges and producers have focused on her more than almost anyone…I’d say she has a big head start on most.

webster

And I refuse to call him Scotty – grow the hell up, Scott.

Heh. I said just about the same thing re Robbie, but I doubt he’ll survive to make it matter, unfortunately.

http://www.fatladysings.us TFLS

I really, really liked Haley. She was my favorite of the night, actually. That whole growl thing just suited the song (IMO). I enjoyed her entire performance. Randy’s dis kinda took me by surprise.

What I totally didn’t get was the whole standing ‘O’ for Pia. I mean I didn’t get it AT ALL. She was good, sure…but not THAT bloody good. Hope things don’t go the way of Dial Idol. I’d like to see Naima and Lauren Turner up there in the top ten along with Haley.

earthy

Thia is a good singer but I’m sorry she is going to bore me every week and Julie really let me down.

I’d like to see Pia, Lauren A., Karen, Ashton, and Haley get through for some good variety. Thia is technically better at least two singers on this list but it’s just too bland for me.

fuzzywuzzy

I have this depressing vision of this churning inevitably towards a Scotty, Lauren A. smack down.

I had exactly the same thought. With the same feelings about it.

jammasta

The amount of people praising the girls more than the guys is a little disappointing, but at the same time, kinda amazing. Scott, James, Casey, Paul, and Jacob should have spots. Naima is the only girl I saw, she was amazing.

I still kinda wish one of them could melt my face like James did.

glamertitis

Lauren A so reminds me of Tots and Tiaras… you know, those talent performances, that are cutesy because the kid is 6? ;)
I found tonight rather average overall… no one really stood out as a big selling, arena concert performing artist to me. I wouldn’t buy even one of those performances tonight from iTunes.

I think most tried too hard this week and it didn’t come off like their natural selves performing. They all seemed so over dressed and prom/pagentry like, like they are “Dancing with the Stars” wannabes. Bring on some funky/current music and ripped jeans or something.

But, it is only week 1. Hopefully, the judges will be more honest next week too. Because this week they sucked with their critiques. Except Randy was the most honest(Surprise, surprise!) lol

Kirsten

dizzyfeet

I’m getting frustrated with our sound! I don’t know where it’s going wrong. The mix between voice and band is okay when it leaves the studio 19 minutes ago via Echofon

Pssst…Nigel. Try firing Bruce.

tomr

It’s too bad that a 16 year old has to try to act and look like she is in her 20’s.(But then again…check out the example she has set for her at home) Thia has the best voice but she is so robotic. So disappointed in the girls/ladies :(

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/303318/jimmy_boyd.html jimmyboyd2

If Pia can embrace whatever ethnicity she might have, and back off the WHITE, she could have a shot. That was an impressive performance. But Naima and (wowowow) Kendra are going to give her some competition.

Is she acting white? Cause I’m white and don’t even know what that is supposed to mean. And I’m pretty sure people know that’s an Italian name.

movin2thabeet

I have this depressing vision of this churning inevitably towards a Scotty, Lauren A. smack down.

I could see it too. But not literally since I would stop watching before it got to that point.

Studio57

Jesus, can we send all the girls home and have a top 12 guys? AI just ended and none of them are trending on twitter? Not a good sign. They were all pageant girls except for Lauren. The hand movements, old song selections, melisma, etc. was just painful to watch and listen to. And how do they not know by now not to try to tackle former idol singers like Kelly and Fantasia?

And poor James and his lack of social clues. I felt kind of embarrassed for him. My bff was watching it with me and she is a special ed teacher- she said that was classic Ausperger’s.

progression

Last night we had 12 distinct guys. Tonight we had better singing, but it was kind of a blurr of strapless dresses, chunky necklaces and big hair. Not too many of the women did what they needed to do to stand out. Pia and Lauren T were very good. Noboby else really made a case for themselves to me.

MrDuffin

I enjoyed Lauren A….. Hope she wins!

mandabutter

I’m not sure if it’ll be Scotty and Lauren A. in the end, they can’t put Lauren Peaches in the last spot every week.

will be back to read all the comments in a bit, over 400 woo-HOOOO, Gonna be a great season of Idol! I loved loved loved 2night. Fingers too busy dialing, I definitely have a favorite 5. I will seriously choke something if Kendra doesn’t get in there.
Haley and Rachel were a joke to me. Rachel – bad bad triple bad, I started to like her look and vibe BUT, hells no with that song & I didn’t hear any range.
HALEY… sweety, don’t try too hard. I was embarassed for her with that OTT mugging and sexy slinky crap she tried. Had to look away to attempt to enjoy the vocals.

cheese

I thought that Haley sang “Fallin'” exactly like David A did on Star Search when he was 8 or 12 or whatever, and that amused me to no end.

There’s a lot of extremely competent singing among the girls! I’ve gotten so used to cringing through the semi-final performances, it was a pleasant surprise. They were still mostly boring, but I’ll take what I can get Only Ta-Tynisa and Julie killed me with rank notes.

Pia, Thia and the Laurens seem to have the strongest voices. I like Ashton’s tone (didn’t like her song) and I was so disappointed in Rachel but at least she had a cape (?)

I’m pushing for Pia and Haley. They were my favs of the night. I kind of liked Rachel and it would be a nice surprise if she made it through.

webster

The top 12 could go any number of ways and I think you could make a strong argument for it.

I didn’t mind the sudden death set up before, when I thought there’d be the usual suckitude with a few obvious good apples mixed in. But given the strength, they really should have gone with a 3 week winnowing. Almost any combination left standing would have been somewhat OK, and I think the obvious fodder would be eliminated with some other interesting mix left standing. But it would have been nice to see what a Julie or Tim, for example, would have come back with after the deserved slams they got. Or if the any of the strong ones would seem repetitive after a week or two. Because with that kind of paring, we could have gone into the finals with a really strong field.

sleeptalker

Yeah so I liked Rachel Zevita. and Naima and Lauren Turner.

Am I the only one who can’t stand the whole “middle name as my last name” thing? It didn’t bother me with Megan Joy, but “Lauren Alaina” and “Kendra Chantelle”? meh.

I feel like Lauren A. will pull a Katie Stevens and burn out fast. i’d like a girl to win but the guys are just so much more interesting this season.

tinawina

AI just ended and none of them are trending on twitter?

Lauren A and Pia are still trending on my feed.

Right now I’m leaning toward Pia, Lauren A and Thia being voted though and Naima joining them. An hour later I still remember her. Kendra on the other hand… I forgot what she sang. The last spot will go to… I’m guessing… Ashton, Karen or Lauren T.

mandabutter

Kirsten:
03/02/2011 at 10:14 pm
dizzyfeet

I’m getting frustrated with our sound! I don’t know where it’s going wrong. The mix between voice and band is okay when it leaves the studio 19 minutes ago via Echofon

Pssst…Nigel. Try firing Bruce.

Is he trying to drum up sympathy for someone that didn’t come across great on TV?? I for one didn’t get all the praise for Lauren Turner. I had high expectations but maybe the mix was off. But, I may be in the wrong, I don’t think she is going to win over many new fans with the 7day Fool song.

girlygirl

Based on last night’s and tonight’s performances this is who I’d put in the Top 12:

wild cards: (more on personal preference and previous performances than the last 2 nights): Stefano & Julie (mainly because I think they are both a lot better than they showed last night/tonight and I think they have the potential to be current/relevant commercial artists)

My personal favorites: Lauren T, Paul, Casey (of these 3, I think Lauren T is the only one who has the potential to sell a lot of records, though)

Miss Blue

The first of these girls who comes out with ripped jeans, a raggy shirt, and sings a down-and-dirty song gets all of my votes for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, if one of them actually does it, it will be Lauren A., singing some smutty song to Steven Tyler. And I will have to kill myself.

That’s how I felt, too. Exactly. I actually missed Crystal and Allison and Brooke White and wished they were on this season to give the girls more variety. The guys are more diverse stylistically. But the up side of having so many similar females sharing a fanbase is that the one that sticks around will probably win via the swing vote, and AI probably needs a female winner this season.

windmills

Lucy1234: I would compare Lauren more to Carrie than Kelly – she is definately going the country route.

I agree Lauren A’s going country but I think where the Kelly comparison is coming in is in Lauren A’s voice being more soulful/earthy like Kelly’s instead of pure like Carrie’s.

Too, Lauren A’s got that bubbly, outgoing personality which is definitely more like Kelly than Carrie (but Kelly’s personality never felt like too much like Lauren A’s has). Lauren A also doesn’t have the stage presence problem Carrie did when she was on s4.

AI just ended and none of them are trending on twitter? Not a good sign.

Lauren A, Pia, and Thia all trended.

Chai

West coast is still voting. But, how did Ta-tynisa get the top spot?

Monterey

Thia makes me want to throw things at the TV. It’s so programmed! It’s very much a formula with Thia where it’s like “Play up camera here, hit big note here, look dazzling now” and it just falls flat for me. I don’t think the girl has a single clue what she’s singing about. I’m must bothered by her advancing because I’m going to be inundated with songs that are too big for her to sing. She’s never going to sing like a 16 year old that she is, she’s going to sing like she’s 16 going on 35 with songs that she’s got no clue about.

You couldn’t be more wrong. Those are the songs she grew up on, and those are the songs she loves to sing the most. If you’ve ever seen her YT vids before IDOL then you would understand. And in one of her interviews, she even mentioned that she’s an old soul and that’s the type of music that she loves. It’s not a case of her needing to be 16 and act her age, because in this case..how you see her IS actually who she is. She is wise beyond her years, she has the mind and demeanor of someone in their 30’s.. You need to realize that, there actually are 16 year olds out there who are far more advanced than people even 10 years their senior. She happens to be one of them. And while she still listens to current music, her musical taste is similar to one of a classy 40 year olds…that’s just who she is.

Jae

Just finished watching Idol. Overall I think some of the ladies tried too hard but overall, strong performances from a lot of the ladies!

People I liked enough to vote for them:
1:Karen Rodriguez. I loved her song and performance
2:Lauren Turner. Her song got me moving!
3:Ashton. Didn’t love the song but she sang and performed well
4:Thia Megia: I think she is solo cute and I think she has huge potential and a great voice despite a bit of shaky start.
5: Lauren Alaina. She was zoo much better than expected and a lot of fun.
6: Naima. She was a little cabaret tonight but I still have faith in her ability.
7. Pia. Better than expected but not as great as the judges said. I can’t even remember what she sang.

I didn’t like any of the others enough to comment on them.

glamertitis

Miss Blue:
03/02/2011 at 10:23 pm
The first of these girls who comes out with ripped jeans, a raggy shirt, and sings a down-and-dirty song gets all of my votes for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, if one of them actually does it, it will be Lauren A., singing some smutty song to Steven Tyler. And I will have to kill myself.

My thoughts EXACTTTTLYY!!!! ROFL

Show us something real, not all this “faked out” pagentry

Elizabeth Lemon

I’m in disbelief Dial Idol is showing Ta-Tynisa in the lead….

mandabutter

I don’t know… I started vaccuuming during Thias song. I was listening, then decided to clean. She bored me. Too bad.
JULIEEEE, what the heck. I think she blew it.

I feel like Lauren A. will pull a Katie Stevens and burn out fast. i’d like a girl to win but the guys are just so much more interesting this season.

I feel totally different. Looking back, I can see a past season proto-type for almost EVERY guy contestant. Same style, different yr. Anddd, the producers short-sighted themselves with not casting a “hunk.” Scott and maybe Tim will get some of the moms. Perhaps Paul as well.

jan

I don’t get the Lauren Alaina pimping. She is talented – but not extraordinary – and to my mind she is extremely unlikeable.

beesims

I cast my votes for the toilet cleaning contingent—Naima and Lauren Turner. They were the only ones that seemed to have some spark of individuality for me and they are underdogs.

Liva

But then again, I don’t follow the “girl’s year” stuff. Just let the best singer win – every year. Which would result in a pretty even split in the long term. But since that’s already been blown all to hell, I’d like to see it come back this year. Meaning – it’s a guy’s year.

It’s rarely a girl’s year for me because my faves tend to get nuked early on. And it appears this year will be no different.

rayni

I love idol again!!! I am officially excited about this season – there are so many that are so good it would be hard to mess up the top 12. My favorites tonight were Pia, the Laurens, and Naima.

abbysee

Well I enjoyed the girls better than the boys. They came out to win alot of them anyway. I dont like Lauren A. I don’t see it. There is something I am missing, but I’ve been wrong before. I’d like to see Ashton get through. The other Lauren as well, but I doubt it. Kendra, Pia, and Karen are the standouts for me. Thia is a beautiful singer, but I don’t feel shit when she sings. Same reason why I don’t like Lauren A. Rachel, Julie, and Tatynisa committed idol suicide for various reasons. Just bad. Everyone else I didn’t mention were good enough in another season to stick around, but not this year.

girlygirl

I’m seeing on twitter that so far, Ta-Tynisa and Julie are 1-2 on Dial Idol

Marie Ruffin

What I totally didn’t get was the whole standing ‘O’ for Pia. I mean I didn’t get it AT ALL. She was good, sure…but not THAT bloody good. Hope things don’t go the way of Dial Idol. I’d like to see Naima and Lauren Turner up there in the top ten along with Haley.

Well, I hate being a broken record, but the live audience must see something the TV audience doesn’t see. I loved all the girls, but exclude:
Tataina, she’s a goner
Julie Z., she’s a goner
Zavita, she’s a goner

It’s hard to make a choice between the remaining girls….they’re all great!

tinawina

I think some of ya’ll are being way tough on the girls. They are not supposed to be perfect this early. They were good tonight IMO. And some of them really had some personality. YMMV and all that.

webster

The amount of people praising the girls more than the guys is a little disappointing, but at the same time, kinda amazing.

Girls: more good voices. Boys: more interesting interpretations
GIrls: more conventionally attractive. Boys: more variety of interesting types.
Girls: need stylists to tell them not to quit playing dress up and dress like normal people.
Boys: need stylists to manage myriad unfortunate hair decisions.

Overall, I like interesting music over just a beautiful voice, so a mild advantage to the boys on an entertainment factor(plus, there are a couple of genuinely good voices on the boys team, too).

However, most musicians don’t purposely get a bad instrument, they get the best one they can afford, so if you’ve got a good instrument, there should be no reason you can’t pass someone who merely has good ideas. So unless the judges were stupid enough to pick girls who don’t have good ideas but are just in love with their own pretty sounds, the girls could really shine. It remains to be seen if the judges were stupid.

readon

At the end of the guys nights, there were perfomances that I wanted to see and hear again. I can’t think of one single performance by the ladies that I want on repeat.

Capable singing, no star quality.

HermeticallySealed

The first of these girls who comes out with ripped jeans, a raggy shirt, and sings a down-and-dirty song gets all of my votes for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, if one of them actually does it, it will be Lauren A., singing some smutty song to Steven Tyler. And I will have to kill myself.

ROFL

just sayin

There’s one girl that will maked me bummed out if she doesn’t make it: Naima.

sleeptalker

oh and i love the lack of instruments. the contestants are so exposed now and it’s gorgeous.

Rachel Zevita: She isn’t one of my favorites but hey I was entertained. :)

Karen Rodriguez: I love how she said I love you mom aww! :)

Thia Megia: I thought she was going to sing the whole song with no music like Bo Bice did. Glad she didn’t.

Hailey Reinhart: FANTASTICO!

Laura Alana: MORE FANTASTICO! :)

The phone lines: Why does it ring so long?!!?! That is so annoying. It happened last night too. I’m just voting online.

I think the guys were more entertaining than the girls were.

karenc

I’m not sure what’s up with Dial idol. Very strange. Could someone whos a fan of one of the guys be voting for the weekest females? That’s the only thing I could think of.

I really liked Pia. Still like Naima, I thought she did terrific but wish she had done something a bit more modern. I like Kendra, and Karen also. Ashton reminded me too of Diana Ross.

I didn’t like Rachel’s arrangement at all, it took a song that was modern and made it old fashioned to me.

I do have to say, that I think the women did better than the men. A lot more strong voices, and better performances. The only problem is they still dont differentiate musically that much for me. Maybe they will more once the season goes on.

I seemed to be agreeing a lot more with Randy. I think what is happening is that he is looking for the originality that we have seen with past contestants, when he says do more than just do a cover, to change it a bit. That the best covers aren’t weaker than the original. Steven Tyler and Jlo seem to be just looking just at the singing, and maybe performance, they are ok if they are doing a song pretty much the way it was written.

thesheriff

The first of these girls who comes out with ripped jeans, a raggy shirt, and sings a down-and-dirty song gets all of my votes for the rest of the season.

That’s what I’m sayin’!!!!!!

sonyab

sleeptalker:

oh and i love the lack of instruments. the contestants are so exposed now and it’s gorgeous.

YES!!!!!!!!!! I agree with you 100% :)

Liva

Unfortunately, if one of them actually does it, it will be Lauren A., singing some smutty song to Steven Tyler. And I will have to kill myself.

You know she’s gonna do it, but you gotta resist the urge Miss Blue! Really good point about the girl styling. No individuality, save for Naima and her home-styled dress (which I loved on her). She wins the “Durbin’s Tail” Award for distinction. I get the feeling the women dress to impress for gigs outside of music. (TeeVee!)

St.Lucia

You couldn’t be more wrong. Those are the songs she grew up on, and those are the songs she loves to sing the most. If you’ve ever seen her YT vids before IDOL then you would understand. And in one of her interviews, she even mentioned that she’s an old soul and that’s the type of music that she loves. It’s not a case of her needing to be 16 and act her age, because in this case..how you see her IS actually who she is. She is wise beyond her years, she has the mind and demeanor of someone in their 30’s.. You need to realize that, there actually are 16 year olds out there who are far more advanced than people even 10 years their senior. She happens to be one of them. And while she still listens to current music, her musical taste is similar to one of a classy 40 year olds…that’s just who she is.

I do realize there are 16 year olds that are wise beyond their years…but that doesn’t mean that have LIVED the songs they are singing about. I call it like I see it. She’s very pageantry and comes off as trying too hard. Just because her musical taste is that of someone older doesn’t mean she has business singing about it. I have also watched her youtube videos and thought exactly the same…pageantry, pageantry, pageantry. I can’t see Thia in today’s music scene, nor can I envision what kind of album she’s going to sing. I feel she has been trained for this her entire life and it doesn’t feel genuine. I’m glad she’s an old soul and has appreciation for music that many sixteen year olds don’t have a clue about, but I don’t see her individuality coming through.

mandabutter

Haha, MJ and Ran-DYYYY Jackson share a brain! Heh. Someone spiked Randys water and he’s now really lucid, who knew?

Steven Tyler, never change. “Monday and Tuesday are in the week and there’s still WTF.” Love it. lol :)))))

rayni

and by exposed i am not referring to Ta-Tynisa’s plethora of cleavage

Are those not the roundest boobies you ever saw O_O !

Chai

I think we saw more nerves with the men and too much moving around the stage. Is internet voting throwing off DI? I was going to do internet voting until I saw I had to sell my soul to facebook.

mandabutter

As far as seeing/hearing recording artists in who we saw tonight, I’d be Kendra’s singles right now and Karen. I have the Impossible record by Aguilera and I’d download Kendra’s version as well.
Lauren Alaina could work too, I’d bob along cuz I listen to a LOT of country and her Reba tonight was fun, but wouldn’t put her in my Top3 just yet.

cookcricket

And I refuse to call him Scotty – grow the hell up, Scott.

LOL, I like the name Scotty, makes him stand out even more. It would be a shame, imo, if we called Jimmy Fallon, Jim.

Re: the girls, I’m not voting, but I’m looking forward to seeing who makes it through to the top 5. It seems the last 3 are a lock and much deserved, imo.

thesheriff

I had to sell my soul to facebook.

I refuse!! I keep saying “this too shall pass”! Of course that’s how I felt and continue to feel about capri’s.

Still DO NOT GET the love Thia and Lauren A. get. They’re good, but nothing special vocally. And what wretched song choices.

All in all loved tonight though. So great to have Sprinkles Peachy (shoot me now) back to his old form.

TheOther

I don’t think Scotty will make it to the finals. The highest a male country artist finished was #4 and that was Josh Gracin from Season 2. And Scotty is more hardcore Country than Josh. And 19 has never even signed a truly traditional male Country artist in 9 seasons.

I can see them wanting Pia to be the pop version of Carrie Underwood – someone who obviously is attractive and can sing. The criticism of not having a strong personality is the same thing that has often been said about Carrie. But it then goes back to her amazing voice, which Pia also possesses.

windmills

Ta-Tynisa: This was as bad as I feared it would be. Too bad.

Naima: I enjoyed that! I was scared after the spoilers but her vocal was pretty on point, her control was good, and I liked the jazziness of what she did. I hope she doesn’t get forgotten based on singing #2.

Kendra: Very nice. I didn’t like how her voice got thin when she went for the big high notes sometimes but I really liked the sultriness of this from her. The big high notes made sense in her interpretation so that’s good. I enjoyed that.

Rachel: At least she swung for the fences and took a big risk. But the vocals weren’t very good. Rearranging Criminal went over about as well as Todrick Hall rearranging SUBG.

Karen: I thought I’d be bored to tears. It was a little typically diva but the vocal was awesome and I LOVED her control and tone. Really a great vocal. I also thought Randy was right that the Spanish parts flowed better than the English. She made a bad song choice not seem so bad. Still, please pick better songs Karen!

Lauren T: Top 2 smartest/best song choice of the night, good performance. I wanted to LOVE it but I didn’t love it. Good for JLo mentioning the stage presence issue. Pretty good vocal, better vibe.

Ashthon: Definitely needed a better song. Wow, she’s a talker too! Personality just oozes from her. But really good vocal. She didn’t necessarily bring anything new to it though.

Julie: Oh Julie. She actually did try something new with the song but this is the night’s worst song choice. On stage she’s too perky/pageanty.

Haley: The attitude was all there but for some reason it felt kind of put on. Good vocal but she seemed like she was trying too hard.

Thia: I was ready not to like this. This shouldn’t have worked. But it did. GREAT vocal, great control, and she made it pretty dynamic and relevant. Biggest surprise of the night IMO.

Lauren A: The other top 2 smartest/best song choice of the night. I still hate the song but the bubblegum sassy attitude is just right for Lauren A. The vocal was just aight but on this song it doesn’t matter because she had enough good moments. Good stage presence too and she’ll stand out because of the country/pop song choice. I still don’t think she’s believable singing adult emotional ballads which in country music would be a problem. But I’m sure they can find her some teenage emotional ballads. It didn’t matter tonight because she did well with the uptempo song.

Pia: I wanted to love this but I don’t. I thought Pia struggled a bit with her stage presence and her big high notes were a little thin. But getting the negative out of the way she’s got great vocal tone, she brought the right emotional intensity, and she did a GREAT job creating the right arc in the song. She earned the pimp spot and it was a nice breakout for her. I’m rooting for her to build on this.

There are seriously 8 girls who deserve the finals IMO and who’d bring something special.

Allison

I found the sound really off tonight. I couldn’t hear some of them over the backup singers and band. I could hardly make out what Rachel was singing.

gangreen29

This is what the Dial Idol guy has to say about the voting tonight.

t wasn’t but four minutes into the girls vote when I became suspicious of Tatynisa Wilson’s prediction. It looks like a fan in New York may have been getting more busy signals than usual and because so few other people were voting for her – her prediction may be over-stated a bit. I would suspect significantly so.
Julie Zorilla’s score may be over-stated too but there isn’t as much evidence here.

Both girls simply don’t have nearly the amount of calls placed for them with DialIdol. Ashton has the third fewest calls at this moment and yet she has twice as many as Julie and three times as many as Tatynisa – more than both combined.

jammasta

Loved Ta-Tynisa’s style and flair. Hated her singing. If she sang that any better I would’ve supported her. She seemed quirky and kinda cool when she wasn’t singing. B for style, D for singing.

fuzzywuzzy

Thanks for posting that gangreen. I’ve found that dialidol has been less accurate since power text voting has become more popular. Now that Internet voting has been introduced (and according to Nigel is generating a lot of votes), then dialidol may be even less accurate.

jpfan

Thanks for the iTunes rankings. Aside from the Reba song nobody got much of a boost. And going from 800 to 200 on iTunes isn’t as awesome as it sounds. In the past Idol performances have really pushed up the original versions of the song.

I just don’t think any of the girls brought anything new to the material. Talented yes but very kareoke/pageant.

Tyler and JLo are completely useless. I think Nigel should look into bringing on guest judges this season. The show could really, really use it.

jammasta

So far, Ta-Tynisa was interesting but bad, Naima was awesome, and where the hell were they hiding Kendra?!
Naima instantly went up with James and Scott. Kendra….. WTF? We saw her about… Once? That was sultry and sexy. I admit that I loved Siobhan melting my face and Crystal just being so real, but these girls so far have been really good.

TOP 16! the judges should choose 3 girls and 3 guys :). Too much talent this year, and last night, too many flubs from the talented who deserve a second chance. I predict the same tonight.

Rachel is one of those who deserve a second shot despite sucking. Could’ve done WAY better with the same song and arrangement, just like Robbie last night.

Karen’s half Spanish singing and the starry background have me melting. Unfortunately I can’t solidify because I am mildly bored. She had to be a bit bigger. Not at all bad, though. Sweet falsetto.
Totally and utterly sad that Steven and J. Lo are kinda useless, I loved them during auditions and Hollywood. Please get better.

Owlgirl

The girls are going to be hard to predict. I feel confident that Pia, Lauren A., and Thia will go through, but I feel like the other two (and the wild card) could be just about anyone. Still don’t think Ta-tynisa will get through, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Julie made it in in spite of her weak performance.

teacup

I love Lauren Alaina! I hope she’ll get signed no matter what, she’s the best female contestant for me in years and years – since Carrie, really. I’d buy her record now. It’s so refreshing to see good singers on Idol again!

idolbeat

Turn on the Radio #244 – was that first number right?
NVM. It is a big jump in 24 hours.

Haley was my favorite tonight although I liked them all. This is my rankings and who I want through

1. Haley
2. Lauren A
3. Naimi
4. Karen
5. Lauren T

I think that’s a good mix of fun with ballad girls and all in between. I feel pretty sure the judges will put Thia in on WC but she was the only one I was bored to death with.

Allison

If Pia can embrace whatever ethnicity she might have, and back off the WHITE, she could have a shot.

I find this is offensive. Would we tell someone to back off the black if they were black?

Niall

Dial Idol betta be off by a mile. Naima is way down the list, and after tonight’s performance I’m on the Naima train. I can’t fathom Julie or Ty actually getting that many votes so yep, DI is wonky.

Rachel bummed me out. She made too many changes to the song. I still like her; she’s got balls.

I’m going to guess Pia, Kendra, both Lauren’s and, hopefully, Naima. I’d like to see Rachel get a wildcard.

MayMirabella

I don’t get the Lauren Alaina pimping. She is talented – but not extraordinary – and to my mind she is extremely unlikeable

Exactly, I do not get it either. And like someone said here in a previous comment, there is something about her that reminds me of Tots and Tiaras…it is if she was a former child beauty contestant. There is something about her that bugs me and I had no idea why. For some reason, I cannot warm up to her at all and something about her bugs me a lot.

BeachBum

I’m going to make my prediction for this year’s winner. I’m not a fan, but Scotty McCreery will be the S10 winner. Once the John Wayne dude was eliminated, it was an easy choice. He is the country version of Lee and Kris. He’ll get all or most of the female votes and probably pull some male votes as well. The only possibilty of him not winning is if Lauren A. keeps singing Reba songs and pulls some country bumpkin votes from Bubba McCreery. Put it down and don’t bet against me… Cause I predicted Dewyze before the Top 24 last year. Rock On!!

cookcricket

But it would have been nice to see what a Julie or Tim, for example, would have come back with after the deserved slams they got. Or if the any of the strong ones would seem repetitive after a week or two. Because with that kind of paring, we could have gone into the finals with a really strong field.

Hmmmm, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to have all of the eliminated ones sing once again, if that is what they plan to do. However, if they do, the judges are going to have an extremely difficult time deciding which two to put through, esp. if some of the ones that tanked on the first night really pull through for the Wild Card. Like Julie and Tim, who seemed to have momentum going into these semifinals.

Mark

Looking back on the YouTubes. So glad Naima did well, along with Lauren T, but disappointed Rachel’s vocals were so off. It’s too bad, because I thought the concept was actually pretty interesting. Still, a good concept doesn’t make up for off-singing. I almost wish she’d go through anyway or get a wildcard, but it’s not happening.

The rest, though? Bleh. I mean, they largely weren’t bad. But, god, weren’t they boring? I’m sorry, no matter how much I’m supposed to be obligated to in the name of whatever equality or reaction to last year, but nothing is going to make me love ballads like “Hero” or “Impossible”. Not even a minute after watching, and I’m having trouble distinguishing them, except by moments of unpleasantness.

(In particular, Karen went way off pitch at a certain point. And Kendra’s tone gets thin and hard to listen to in her upper range. Ta-Tynisia was a mess, obviously, as was Julie.)

Allison

I don’t get the Lauren Alaina pimping. She is talented – but not extraordinary – and to my mind she is extremely unlikeable

I feel exactly the same. But I begrudgingly allow that she worked the stage tonight.

easyrider707

Agree with Bootstar top 5 (Naima, Kendra, “auren T., Karen,Pia)

Randy is losing his memory. I will give him the comment about Jacob,s performance as it brought tears, but none of these others have even approached the same standard. No one tonight actually set the world on fire compared to the guys.

Music is WAY to loud again tonight and the mix of instruments and background vocals ovver powered performances.

jammasta

I was MILDLY disappointed in Lauren T. Good but didn’t meet my expectations.

I freaking love Ashthon. She and Naima were my favorites so far. They better make it.

I kinda like her diva ‘tude.

jpfan

Off the top of my head going from 800 to 200 on iTunes could mean additional sales of 5,000 downloads (maybe less). While that may sound awesome, over 20 million people watch Idol. It’s a good sign for Lauren’s performance but doesn’t mean she created some big moment.

I think top bets to go through with be Thia, Pia, Lauren A. I’m really not sure about anybody else.

partyintheusa

Seriously, if this was the first episode, I think a lot more people would agree that Lauren A was spectacular tonight. I don’t think people are seeing her for the talent that she really is. Just that she’s 16 and they hated something about her in audition/Hollywood rounds footage. I think most of the girls were outstanding, but Lauren A, as well as Lauren T just made me sit up and take notice tonight. Pia was up there also.

Dlynne

West Coaster here – Ta-Tynisha was really off pitch throughout. I really did enjoy Naima’s version of Summertime and love Kendra’s voice even if I didn’t love the song so much.

bridgette12

jpfan:
03/02/2011 at 11:24 pm
Tyler and JLo are completely useless. I think Nigel should look into bringing on guest judges this season. The show could really, really use it.

Your right, their useless. Looking at those two is like looking a toothpaste commercial, all you see is their stupid grins. If they can’t give any critiques, there is no reason to have them on there.

jtgraffix

I do realize there are 16 year olds that are wise beyond their years…but that doesn’t mean that have LIVED the songs they are singing about. I call it like I see it. She’s very pageantry and comes off as trying too hard. Just because her musical taste is that of someone older doesn’t mean she has business singing about it. I have also watched her youtube videos and thought exactly the same…pageantry, pageantry, pageantry. I can’t see Thia in today’s music scene, nor can I envision what kind of album she’s going to sing. I feel she has been trained for this her entire life and it doesn’t feel genuine. I’m glad she’s an old soul and has appreciation for music that many sixteen year olds don’t have a clue about, but I don’t see her individuality coming through.

i completely agree 100%

and this is coming from a fellow pinoy.

NOLA

TheOther:
03/02/2011 at 10:58 pm
I don’t think Scotty will make it to the finals. The highest a male country artist finished was #4 and that was Josh Gracin from Season 2. And Scotty is more hardcore Country than Josh. And 19 has never even signed a truly traditional male Country artist in 9 seasons.

All of the reasons you gave, are the reason’s I believe Scott will make the finals :)

claudette

Kelly Clarkson is a huge fan of Lauren A and just wrote on her twitter

“Just saw Lauren Alaina perform Reba’s song on Idol and she is the cutest thing! I can’t wait to hear a record from her! I will add to what Randy said about her being a mix of me and Carrie, she’s also got some Kellie Pickler in there. Sing your butt off girl! I hope you make it far in the competition!”

Lovesyesha

Here’s my rankings (from worst to best):

12. Ty-tynisa: terrible choice (not a singer’s song) and she was way off pitch
11. Julie: Beautiful girl, but you just don’t choose a Kelly Clarkson song on this show
10. Haley: Honestly, she was awful, I don’t get the love. Everything she does sounds forced and put on. Plus it was a bit copycat of a performance.
9. Rachel: I really wanted to like her, but she focused more on style than the vocals and her performance suffered because of it.
8. Kendra: It was good (better than I expected), but in a sea of talented people it was forgettable
7. Ashton: Again good, but slightly forgettable. Also, we have had people with her type of voice on the show before (syesha, vonzell, tamyra, etc.) and they were better.
6. Naima: Here’s where it gets tough. I love all of the next six girls, but I put Naima lower because I just felt that while she had a great performance, there were five others who were better.
5. Karen: Honestly, this could have been a disaster, but it was great. She showed incredible control I didn’t know she had, and the spanish part made her stand out from the crowd.
4. Lauren A: Fun, likable, and good (but not great vocals). Overall though, I felt she had the most relatable, age-appropriate performance,and that’s why she’s in my top 4.
3. Lauren T: I want her in the top 10! I hope she doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, because she has what Haley tries to have, and that is a natural soulful growl to her voice which I love.
2. Thia: For exactly the reason Jennifer said. Over the course of 2 nights we had huge performances with people oversinging a lot. Thia, to me stood out because it was a soft, controlled, simple, elegant, beautiful, way beyond her years performance. I wish people here could see how special it was.
1. Pia: What can I say, I love her! She is a throwback to idols great diva days!

Overall I loved the show, and I feel personally that the girls are even better than the guys, jmho.

zweiosterei

If anyone was wondering to which countries the flags Karen’s mom was carrying belonged to i can answer that they were from Perú (my country) and the Dominican Republic. I’m now rooting for Karen a bit more. Vamos Karen, viva el Perú carajo!!

J9BT

Sad to say on my twitter feed the latina votes seem to be going to Julie, not Karen. :-( Sorry, but Julie was horrible tonight.

Also horrible was Tytanisha, and both Ty & Julie are tops on DI. This better be wrong!

Thia was too robotic/pageanty for me.

I voted for so many girls my votes probably cancelled each other out. Loved Pia, Lauren A (hate to admit it – was expecting to hate her but she was great), Naima, Ashthon and Lauren T. I think something was done to Rachel’s sound. Lyndsey Parker is saying she sounded good in the studio, but not on TV.

My daughter loved Haley. Kendra was forgettable.

Valentin432

IA that Lauren A personality is closer to Kellie than Kelly because she’s a little more OTT, thus it will create much more animosity towards her.

http://www.dallascowboys.com GeminiDolly

I thought Steven and J.LO were great during the auditions, but they are worthless now. Grow a pair and critique. Please dont let it be rainbows and sunshine for almost everyone! At least Randy is trying to keep it real.

jammasta

Rethinking the guys year thing I’ve been arguing for the entire season. Not so much because I think it’s a girls year, but there’s just so much more potential in the girls than I’ve anticipated. Yes, they are kinda guilty of running together, which makes me like the guys more. I still like the guys more as a whole, but considering I’ve underestimated many and my favorites aside from Naima and Ashthon are the last 3, I think we’ve got something going here. I predict one of the better seasons coming from this batch of contestants. Hopefully Steven Tyler and J. Lo become as good as they were during auditions or they’ll become stale like they’ve been today and yesterday. I admit I love when Steven says “beautiful” though.

Holy crap. Julie was just bad, but WHAT THE HELL was Haley doing? She was like a drunk rabbitmouse up there. That was stupid. I see potential in her but that performance was pretty awful. Well damn, way to kill my fuzzy cozy night.

Monterey

I do realize there are 16 year olds that are wise beyond their years…but that doesn’t mean that have LIVED the songs they are singing about. I call it like I see it. She’s very pageantry and comes off as trying too hard. Just because her musical taste is that of someone older doesn’t mean she has business singing about it. I have also watched her youtube videos and thought exactly the same…pageantry, pageantry, pageantry. I can’t see Thia in today’s music scene, nor can I envision what kind of album she’s going to sing. I feel she has been trained for this her entire life and it doesn’t feel genuine. I’m glad she’s an old soul and has appreciation for music that many sixteen year olds don’t have a clue about, but I don’t see her individuality coming through

Well what would you rather see her do then? She performed Miley Cyrus – The Climb on AGT and it was probably her weakest performance on tv or youtube to date. I do think as the competition goes on she will show off her versatility and hopefully bust out her guitar one week and do a stripped down cover. And to counter your point, probably about 80% of the songs sang on IDOL weren’t “lived” by the contestants…

Animated

I had more fun watching the guys ,than the girls. Seems like everyone including the judges have turned into something like Stepford Idols. Almost like Idol now has to overcompensate for the weird judging and the wrecks of last season. Editing to perfection. Yes, there were really good voices from the girls- Naima, Ashton, Thia and Kendra.

Dlynne

Steven and Jennifer were a LOT better tonight than last night. They’re just getting their feet wet so I’m not going to be critical. They’ll get better, just like they did during the auditions.

Karen reminded me tonight of a Latina Celine Dion. I didn’t like her song choice but the Spanish parts were really good. I hope she sings something more current next week if she sticks around.

I really wanted to love Lauren T. but I didn’t. I didn’t love her strapless dress either. Hopefully she’ll get another chance.

I want to hear Ashthon Jones sing something else. I love her voice and her styling.

easyrider707

Unlike last night, I did not see a song tonight that will be getting close to a million views on youtube several months after the show as almost every prior year females have. Sorry teacup, but the performances tonight rate way lower than the first nine for females. Hopefully the girls will pick it up next week.

Dlynne

Sad to say on my twitter feed the latina votes seem to be going to Julie, not Karen. Sorry, but Julie was horrible tonight.

I hope not. Julie was an epic fail.

jammasta

Unlike last night, I did not see a song tonight that will be getting close to a million views on youtube several months after the show as almost every prior year females have. Sorry teacup, but the performances tonight rate way lower than the first nine for females. Hopefully the girls will pick it up next week.

I kinda agree (James and Scott totally tore up the stage in different ways that I can see becoming popular on YouTube), but as a whole, it seems the girls are less full of train-wrecks and awkwardness than the guys.

FFFFFF. I loved Thia and Lauren A. Lauren A was much more interesting than I thought she would be. Holy crap. She is SO Top 10. Naima, Ashthon, Thia, and Lauren A. are my picks for Top 10.

s0x_prisoner

Didn’t get to watch the entire show tonight, so I’m watching the performances I missed now… WOW, I was really impressed by Thia. She actually sounded really good.

pmreyn2010

I know that a ton of people disagree, but during Lauren’s performance, I actually thought she sort of seemed to be a cross of Kelly & Carrie. And when Randy said it, he voiced what I was thinking. Not totally there yet, but she really did a great job working the stage.

As far as Ta-Tynisa, can I say that I love that she really did get into the song & that she worked the stage! (I mean really, have we had any women work the stage really well over the past couple of years??) Vocals weren’t there, though. It’s a shame.

Aside from Lauren A, I liked Karen (woo Spanish!), Pia, Ashton (I wish she had picked a better song!), and I like Lauren T’s potential.

I have to say, I was disappointed with Naima tonight. She was one of my early favorites, but it just felt so cabaret like; wish she had picked something else. As much as I didn’t like Fantasia, I did love her “Summertime,” and Naima just didn’t bring it for me.

Dlynne

I have a feeling the raw numbers on Dial Idol are a more accurate representation of the audience reception than the Dial Idol score which is a combination of the busy signal and the raw numbers. And that happened to be true last year as well.

thesheriff

dear god – i am bored and the girl that killed breakaway was awful. fallin’ is on right now. will someone please give me some attitude? a teena marie tribute would just light me up…i’m just a sucker for your love, lover girl, square biz. what’s this crap??

some good singers but i need more for my viewing pleasure! i like naima and the girl that did christina was marginally good – lauren t also mild potential but gawwwwwd wake me up!

sue

Ok the girls were actually really great, almost all of them. I see potential in all of them. lolz

My favorite girl is still Pia. Pia FTW!

Lauren T, Naima (her eyes are beautiful), Kendra and yes even Lauren A were terrific tonight.

I was hoping Rachel would be better but she still has spunk. Ashton, please STOP flirting with everyone, GEEZZZZ, she is annoying but yeah the girl can sing too. lol

The other girls weren’t that bad either. The only one that really failed tonight for me was Julie. She was terrible, the rest of them still have hope. Overall a really great night. I don’t know who is going to make it through since there were so many good ones tonight.

This is going to be a fierce year! Please fixed the sound ASAP Nigel!!!!!!!

Mark

The last three girls; Thia’s voice seemed more natural to me than it appeared in Hollywood, but now she’s just kind of a generic pagaent bot performer. Very Diana DeGarmo, and in the least flattering way possible. I’m going to give Lauren A. a pass; she sounded a touch weak, but I think for her it was mostly the mix. And she’s more convincing on stage than all of the boys combined, and I’m partial to her song choice.

I still don’t the attention around Pia. Nothing in that performance suggests some performer who is going to redeem Idol. First, the vocal choices she makes are less than inspiring; there’s just nothing interesting about how she’s singing, and a rather generic tone doesn’t help that. Secondly, she was not on key the whole time. Toward the end, it definitely went off.

If I had to advance five girls, Naima, Lauren T, Rachel (yep, even with a weak vocal), Lauren A, and I guess Karen or Kendra. But I’d advance a 6th guy over a 5th girl easy.

eyin

Ok I like Pia and all but everytime she’s on I just keep blurting out, “WTF is up with that face??” Like seriously. What is up with that. Something’s off.

But she definitely is a star. Watch out.

pmreyn2010

@Mark: I loved Diana DeGarmo. Not a fan of Thea’s. The thing with Diana was she had big pipes and a huuuuge personality– Thea just doesn’t do anything. Like when Ryan was talking with her after her song, she just gave an awkward laugh, and not in the fun ‘oh gosh’ way that David Archuelta used to. She just has no personality.

Mark

@Mark: I loved Diana DeGarmo. Not a fan of Thea’s. The thing with Diana was she had big pipes and a huuuuge personality– Thea just doesn’t do anything. Like when Ryan was talking with her after her song, she just gave an awkward laugh, and not in the fun ‘oh gosh’ way that David Archuelta used to. She just has no personality.

I’ll give you that. Diana did have more of an actual personality. But I’m just thinking about the singing inflections. Diana was maybe more bombastic, but there’s a similarity there for me, and not in their best moments.

songsungblue

The last three girls; Thia’s voice seemed more natural to me than it appeared in Hollywood, but now she’s just kind of a generic pagaent bot performer. Very Diana DeGarmo, and in the least flattering way possible. I’m going to give Lauren A. a pass; she sounded a touch weak, but I think for her it was mostly the mix. And she’s more convincing on stage than all of the boys combined, and I’m partial to her song choice.

I still don’t the attention around Pia. Nothing in that performance suggests some performer who is going to redeem Idol. First, the vocal choices she makes are less than inspiring; there’s just nothing interesting about how she’s singing, and a rather generic tone doesn’t help that. Secondly, she was not on key the whole time. Toward the end, it definitely went off

I’m with you, except for Lauren A. [your name is Suddeth. SUDDETH.] There’s something about her that makes me want to smack her. I like a little vulnerability with my female singers, a little catch to the voice. She’s too confident, and I can’t see her. Right now, I just hear the notes.

jammasta

OH MY GOD PIA.

I think James and Scott yesterday also deserved a Standing O, but Pia, that gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes.

I still think the guys are more interesting and the good performances last night were better than the good performances tonight, but as a whole, more of the girls seemed better or competent and less full of suck. Rachel and Haley weren’t THAT bad (but both did kinda suck), Ta-Tynisa was bland, and Julie sucked. Last night, the first four guys and Robbie sucked, and Brett kinda wasn’t all that great either. However, James, Scott, and maybe Paul and Jacob were better than all of the girls, which kinda balances it out. We’ve got a real competition this year, methinks.

Pia was a little too shouty at the end, I kinda wish she didn’t do that, but she should totally get through.

Dlynne

Thia is too generic for me. She has a beautiful voice but her performance left me cold.

Lauren A. gave one of the two best performances tonight. Her song was fun and age appropriate and she killed it. They’ll be grooming her to be the next Taylor Swift. Taylor is getting older and she’s leaving her young fans behind and Lauren will be right there to scoop them up.

Pia was my favorite tonight.

AmericanIdol8

I’m with you, except for Lauren A. [your name is Suddeth. SUDDETH.] There’s something about her that makes me want to smack her. I like a little vulnerability with my female singers, a little catch to the voice. She’s too confident, and I can’t see her. Right now, I just hear the notes.

I so agree with you! There is something about her I don’t like. She is too cocky for me! My favorite of the night for the girls was Pia. To me she deserved to be in the top 10!

thesheriff

standing o? really? insane – not in a good way. the show sucked for me but i will sleep quite well, i’m sure.

Mark

I’m with you, except for Lauren A. [your name is Suddeth. SUDDETH.] There’s something about her that makes me want to smack her. I like a little vulnerability with my female singers, a little catch to the voice. She’s too confident, and I can’t see her. Right now, I just hear the notes.

Maybe, but I’m willing to give her more credit. After all, she was singing “Turn On Your Radio”; simple energy satisfies for that, and she used the stage really well. It was more than a few steps above the awkwardness that was the entire guy’s set yesterday. If she can show some vulnerability in slower moments, I might be able to appreciate her. For now, it’s cautious interest.

(Upon re-listening, though, I will say her breath support issues *really* need worked on. They’re causing more than a few awkward gaps in the singing)

AmericanIdol8

I think James and Scott yesterday also deserved a Standing O, but Pia, that gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes.

I still think the guys are more interesting, but as a whole, more of the girls seemed better and less full of suck.

I agree to some degree. I think James deserved a standing O but I don’t think the girls seemed better. I liked the guys night much better. Just my opinion but I still love the girls this year than last year……with the exception of Crystal. <3

jennyl

So far, only watch Thia and Pia. There is hope yet for S10. So so much better than the guys. Much much much much much better than any of the girls in S9. (Though of course for me no one can hold a candle to S9 winner but he’s a guy) I’m rooting for a girl this year.

jammasta

I agree to some degree. I think James deserved a standing O but I don’t think the girls seemed better. I liked the guys night much better. Just my opinion but I still love the girls this year than last year……with the exception of Crystal. <3

I reworded it and explained it because I don’t think I really said what I meant or meant what I said. The girls seemed better because more of them were competent than the guys and less sucked than the guys. Not as interesting, but that balances out.

My top 10 performances of the semifinals are:

1. James Durbin. He’s just my type of music, and he made my face melt with that powerful metal song.
2. Scott McCreery. He’s also my type of music. Brought my face back together with a good ol’ country song.
3. Naima Adedapo. Loved her sunny version of Summertime, she made it her own I thought.
4. Pia Toscano. I totally underestimated her. Well, not totally, but she gave me the biggest goosebumps of the two nights. Not as interesting as the 3 above her, but she just settled me down.
5. Paul McDonald. LOL he seemed so drunk, but really cool with a chill, catchy vibe.
6. Lauren Alaina Suddeth. She totally rocked that song. She might be above Paul.
7. Thia Megia. Actually, the a cappella kinda gave me chills here. Maybe she’s pageant-y, but she is more interesting than the other pageantbots.
8. Casey Abrams. Loved his take, although he admittedly was a bit disappointing. He’s never bad.
9. Jacob Lusk. His version of House is Not A Home was good and soulful. Didn’t much care for the way he smacked his lips in the beginning, and he did kinda oversing, but that was still beautiful.
10. Ashthon Jones. I just love her diva ‘tude, and R&B is my other favorite genre, just hits the soul for me. She was no exception.

Seriously, Season 10 is shaping up to be more interesting overall than S9 and S8. Granted, there were individual contestants in the past two seasons who were awesome (Kradison, KellySoxNus), but as a whole, this group seems better.

Monterey

Thia trending on twitter again.

ReginaFilange

If Thia can manage to convince people she’s Hawaiian she could win the whole thing. A la Jasmine Trias.

easyrider707

The song choices tonight for the most part, remind me of my dentist office. Honestly, for the first year ever with the females, I CANNOT SEE MYSELF DOWNLOADING A SINGLE SONG TONIGHT TO PLAY IN MY CAR. Last night = several would meet that standard. REally bad songs and mix and instruments way too loud to allow for clear understanding of words. Worst than any female songs in my 9 years and not the total fault of contestants.

claudette

I think it’s pretty funny that Kelly Clarkson makes a point to twitter her love of Lauren Alaina but doesn’t mention her own song being performed.

I can’t remember a year, before tonight, where I liked the girls better than the boys. Usually they are so boring and just stand there.

I’m loving this year, but if I’m honest, I’m still missing a Bo Bice, Daughtry, or even Archuleta Imagine during semifinals.

Monterey

hahahaha. She’d prob still get pretty strong support from hawaii but obviously no where near what jasmine got. The difference with Thia though is that she can actually SING. Jasmine, not so much…

Mark

I’m loving this year, but if I’m honest, I’m still missing a Bo Bice, Daughtry, or even Archuleta Imagine during semifinals.

To be fair, “Whipping Post”, “Hemorrhage”, and “Imagine” were all week two performances. They’re the kind of thing a “one-and-done” structure tends to do away with, though I’m sure we’ll recognize some well enough in retrospect. (No one considered Allison’s “Alone” in that category until the season was over, for example. And now it’s heralded easily as one. Just the way experience and memory works)

Diana

what is up with dial idol????

Ratna12

More than half of the girls can be in a beauty pageant, lots of pretty girls and some good performers .

– Love Kendra since the Hollywood week, I wish her song was more memorable, she was good though.
-Karen R was good. She has potential.
-Thia was really good because the arrangement was the best, simple, thus her voice came through so clear.
-Lauren A was such a good performer. She deserves the top 10-12 even if I don’t really like her.
– Pia was great. Really pretty and just nit picking here, too much scooping hand movement.

My votes are for Kendra and maybe Karen, just because they need them.
I wish we can pick 7 girls and 5 guys.

stwbcross

I’m with you, except for Lauren A. [your name is Suddeth. SUDDETH.] There’s something about her that makes me want to smack her

I so agree with you! There is something about her I don’t like. She is too cocky for me!

I’m with you guys on this one. To me she’s a player … first fawning all over Steven Tyler, then tonight letting everyone know that she has a pet name for Ryan and to top it off she all of a sudden moves to the country genre. She’s a smart cookie, which means she’ll go far.

I think it’s pretty funny that Kelly Clarkson makes a point to twitter her love of Lauren Alaina but doesn’t mention her own song being performed.

She’s sticking to the rule that if you can’t say anything nice…. lol!

colette

God, I’m having a bad ear night or something, because there was so little for me in this batch of gals.

The only two who stood out for me were Naima and Lauren T.,in part because I love blues but also because they weren’t doing that slick-diva-wannabe stuff that so many of these girls are confusing with MAKING MUSIC.

yes, yes, there’s a lot of polish in a few of them — Pia, and Lauren A, and Kendra in spots. But I thought a lot of them were pitchy, I hated the fake-vamping, and I found myself missing (OK shoot me) the naturalness of someone like Crystal Bowersox, even if she didn’t have all that va-va-voom. I enjoyed Thia just because it was nice to see someone who wasn’t 15-going-on-35, but I really doubt she’ll make it further — too bland.

I sometimes felt like I was stuck in a Miss Teen America Pageant or something. Especially with the judges going sooooo far over the top. With the sometimes exception of Randy, the only one who seems to be thinking with his ears, I felt like they were setting a lot of these kids up for failure — now or soon — by acting like happy parents gushing at the school talent show. I mean, some of their comments make Paula Abdul look like a tough ass.

I can’t even guess who is going to make it tomorrow from this bunch, and I fear it may be more on looks and sex appeal than musical ability. I’m going to vote for Lauren Turner repeatedly. Sorry to say, at this point I’m not sold at all that this is THE YEAR OF THE WOMAN on Idol…..

jammasta

When do we get to download these? There are four in particular I can see myself downloading :).

I hope the sound is a little more refined, however.

The only thing about the girls is that if I compare them to last year, there’s no Siobhan, Crystal, or Lilly, but I can manage :P. Comparing is setting myself up for disappointment anyway.

I didn’t like tonight’s show as much as last night’s. There were probably fewer train wrecks tonight, but it all seemed like everything blended together for me. Once we weed out the vote splitters, it will probably get better because each contestant will seem unique.

1) Ta-Tynisa – What can I say? They aren’t even trying to pretend that singing first isn’t the death slot. Seriously, that was bad on so many different levels. She never had control of that song. The vocals were a hot mess. And that dress was insane. Bye. (1/10)

2) Naima – Eh. It was something different and she can sing, but it just didn’t move me. (6/10).

3) Kendra – It was fine, but I had forgotten all about her by the time we got to the end. I’d give her feedback, but she’s not going to stick around long enough to need it. (5/10)

4) Rachel – Okay, right off…she had the best dress of the night. That was fabulous. I normally don’t care too much for Rachel, but I liked her tonight. She stood out from the crowd and put on a show. Her vocals were fine. I don’t understand why the judges panned her when they just told her last week to be who she is and not try to please others. I guess that only counts if she stays in the box of their making. (7.5/10)

5) Karen – I really wanted Karen to do well. I really liked her audition and in Hollywood. But I felt like I was watching a local telethon. What was that? Somehow, while she was switching between English and Spanish, she forgot to build the song up and it went nowhere. (5/10).

6) Lauren T – I love the Jully Black version of this song and Lauren didn’t really reach that level. Still, she was in a tough position. She is one of those that didn’t get a lot of Hollywood screen time, so she had to come out and establish herself. I think she did a good job of doing that. Great vocals and the energy really picked up near the end. I think she made her mark and deserves to stay. (8/10)

7) Ashton – I don’t think I can judge her because that song was so boring. She seems to have some talent, so I wouldn’t mind seeing her again, but will anybody remember to vote for her? (5/10)

8 ) Julie – Another contestant I liked. Now I don’t know why. That was pretty lifeless. That song did her no favours. (4/10)

9) Haley – I actually really enjoyed that. She has some great pipes and she was fearless up there. She even toned down the growling and random noises. Last night, I thought Casey was OTT. I think Haley showed how to pitch a performance like that perfectly. (8.5/10)

10) Thia – It is hard to start acapela and have the band join in, so that was good. But, she is such a pageant-bot. There doesn’t seem to be an authentic thing about her. (7.5/10)

11) Lauren A – Whoever said that she reminds them of Tots and Tiaras totally got it right. Ugh. IDK. The girl can sing and has great stage presence and has shown an ability to sing a variety of styles and yada-yada-yada, but I cannot help but hate her. There are a lot of contestants I haven’t cared for in the past, but I can’t remember ever having hated one before. As much as I dislike her when she is singing, it compares nothing to how much I loathe her when she is not singing. When Randy said she reminded of him of a cross between Carrie and Kelly, to me, she totally looked like she wasn’t surprised because she has thought it herself. I mean, I’m all for being confident, but she raises it to an entirely new obnoxious level. And then, when she wanted people to know that she has assigned Ryan a nickname like she expects us all to adopt it, she became virtually unredeemable to me. I cannot stand her. I do not like her on a stage. I do not like her in a cage. I do not want her here or there. I do not want her anywhere. (7.5/10)

12) Pia – I thought she was doing a great job until she hit those final notes. It must have been the sound mix because everybody in the studio seemed to think it was great. I like her. She has personality, charm and a great voice (8.5/10)

I don’t care what she’s singing, for Miss Thia Megia has the tone, power and control of a singer many years her senior. Technically speaking, she and Pia blow the others out of the water. There is more to star power than melisma and the inartful mimicry of so-called current artists.

jammasta

Pia and Jacob already rocking with the +90 scores.

Thia, Casey, and James are above 80. These are the 5 people above 4 stars (which WNTS considers 5 star performances).

If the Top 10 performers on WNTS make it (swap Karen with Naima), we have a good Top 10. Wildcard can go to Karen, Brett, and Stefano on these ratings, and I wouldn’t mind that. I’ll kinda miss Ashthon honestly.

Girls did better than the guys on WNTS, but by .1 point.

The ratings on WNTS are kinda what I expected. There were more guys who were closer to the top than the girls, but overall the girls had better ratings, but more of the girls seemed middle of the road.

Surprised Scott isn’t higher, honestly, and I think James could be a tiny bit higher.

sincerely, would somebody please explain the Pia Toscana love for me? She seemed mediocre, and to my ears off-pitch on her big, long notes. Really, inquiring minds want to know…..

easyrider707

I feel for some of the younger kids. Most of them will need much help in arranging and switching up the tunes to the 90 second format. I noticed that last week and are even more convinced now with the girls. I feel like, with the exception of a coupple of the girls, that a complete unraveling could occur at any time.

AI needs to provide much mentoring for thesae young kids to have a chance.

Kirsten

I think is going to be a very long wait for that.

Sadly, you are probably right.

Junior

At the end of the guys nights, there were perfomances that I wanted to see and hear again. I can’t think of one single performance by the ladies that I want on repeat.

That about sums it up for me.

Mark

sincerely, would somebody please explain the Pia Toscana love for me? She seemed mediocre, and to my ears off-pitch on her big, long notes. Really, inquiring minds want to know…..

I. Don’t. Get. It.

Also, the WhatNotToSing ratings make me think I’m in for a long season, because some of those performances are really overrated. My worst fears about how this season might play out are starting to take hold.

gangreen29

At the end of the guys nights, there were perfomances that I wanted to see and hear again. I can’t think of one single performance by the ladies that I want on repeat.

I’ve already watched the girls performances way more than the guys last night.

Don’t know if it was the particularly rough day at work, but I was pretty thoroughly bored. Lots of performances running together (hehe, double entendre).

Lauren T. was the only one who got me energized at all. Lauren A. was good and is going no where….near my iPod. And I did NOT get Pia’s performance at all. It must have sounded much better in the studio. I thought she was flat an awful lot, no nuance and just straining too much.

gangreen29

NVM

Mark

NVM

gangreen29

NVM

kcostell

I thought Pia’s performance was good, but find it hard to agree with the preliminary WhatNotToSing scores putting it above every single performance of Crystal last year.

jtgraffix

If Thia can manage to convince people she’s Hawaiian she could win the whole thing. A la Jasmine Trias.

heh, i’m from hawaii and i’m not giving her any of my votes.

Mark

NVM

easyrider707

Kirsten – I think Lauren A and some of the young singers will struggle with song arrangements absent great, and maybe unfair, guidance.

springboard

The only two who stood out for me were Naima and Lauren T.

My thoughts exactly. I was hoping that Rachel would bring it but she didn’t, and I don’t get Pia and Lauren A. To me they are good singers, but so so generic..part of those who don’t bring anything new to the table..

soverymel

I thought Pia’s performance was good, but find it hard to agree with the preliminary WhatNotToSing scores putting it above every single performance of Crystal last year.

I think this years WNTS scores might be benefitting a little bit from the halo surrounding the beginning of this season partially because there are some really good contestants, but also partially because of the huge relief that this year doesn’t seem to be a repeat of the vibe of last year’s show.

CynicalDog

Was the expression “for me” in common use pre-AI? Anytime I hear/read someone express their opinion by saying, “For me, such-and-such was pretty terrible”, I immediately picture Randy, Simon, et al.

Kirsten

Girls: more good voices. Boys: more interesting interpretations
GIrls: more conventionally attractive. Boys: more variety of interesting types.
Girls: need stylists to tell them not to quit playing dress up and dress like normal people.
Boys: need stylists to manage myriad unfortunate hair decisions.

Totally agree.

songsungblue

I’m tempted to get out while I still can – and boy, Mr. songsungblue would be applauding that decision, heh – because I can tell this season is going to be a big bowl of meh, served with an extra dollop of WTF? Pia did nothing for me. Years ago, I used to work in a restaurant where the waiters would go up and sing [Max’s Opera Cafe], and she reminded me of one of them. Big voice, nice poise, very very pretty, but if I heard that on the radio, she’d sound like anyone at all.

I found myself missing (OK shoot me) the naturalness of someone like Crystal Bowersox, even if she didn’t have all that va-va-voom

Oh Super-Word-O-Ramic! Now I get why everyone didn’t love Crystal, but you couldn’t call her inauthentic. In fact, it puts season 9 in a whole new light. I think they were looking for raw, but when they got raw, it didn’t make for good teevee. So now they’re going back to the great age of the PageantBot. This whole show made me remember some of the loathed, over-singing contestants of the past. I swear, they would have been Standing O’d tonight. Heather Cox? You out there? *Waves to Diana DeGarmo*

Hey, some of these kids have quite LITERALLY grown up on this show. They’ve honed their AI fantasies since grade school. They’ve sung into their hair brushes. It feels like that, not like, well, MUSIC.

I dunno. Maybe it will get better? Because if I have to watch Country Barbie pat her rump and Scotty lean left all season, someone might get hurt.

sherimoonzombie

Overall, I like interesting music over just a beautiful voice, so a mild advantage to the boys on an entertainment factor(plus, there are a couple of genuinely good voices on the boys team, too).

webster - I absolutely, 100% agree with this whole post.

Dlynne

Oh Super-Word-O-Ramic! Now I get why everyone didn’t love Crystal, but you couldn’t call her inauthentic. In fact, it puts season 9 in a whole new light. I think they were looking for raw, but when they got raw, it didn’t make for good teevee. So now they’re going back to the great age of the PageantBot. This whole show made me remember some of the loathed, over-singing contestants of the past. I swear, they would have been Standing O’d tonight. Heather Cox? You out there? *Waves to Diana DeGarmo*

Hey, some of these kids have quite LITERALLY grown up on this show. They’ve honed their AI fantasies since grade school. They’ve sung into their hair brushes. It feels like that, not like, well, MUSIC.

I dunno. Maybe it will get better? Because if I have to watch Country Barbie pat her rump and Scotty lean left all season, someone might get hurt.

^^^This is why I love Paul so much.

easyrider707

N WhatNotToSing = if Pia surpassed Crystals I think 7 of 10 performances, which if I remember actually tied Kelly, then you are telling me this Pia performance surpassed theae 2 ladies? I must be totally deaf. No way even in the same class as Kelly, CB, CU, >antasia (that Randy keeps pointing out) to me.

sdmama

Whoa, funny it looks we unite on judging boys and split on girls. I found boys more interesting/diverse, and TV wasn’t getting my full attention, until Pia sang. She gave me goose bumps. Yay, a girl to look forward to! I think top 5 girls will be great no matter who they are, but I sure hope that Pia is included, because I want to hear something else from her.

Has there been any girl that changed up week after week, like David Cook/Adam?

emmuzka

Kirsten:

And then, when she wanted people to know that she has assigned Ryan a nickname like she expects us all to adopt it, she became virtually unredeemable to me. I cannot stand her. I do not like her on a stage. I do not like her in a cage. I do not want her here or there. I do not want her anywhere.

LOL! And I agree so much. I generally hate the “See you at the finals!” -attitude, but this “Our little Alaina, adopted and loved by the whole country!!“, is just too much.

The Nigel pimping, the artificial “connection” with Steven Tyler, the special treatment regarding how she is talked to and what she is set up to say… It makes me hate her, no matter how talented she is. (On the other hand, I despise Tylor Swift and Justin Bieber, too, and that hasn’t stopped them.)

colette

max’s opera cafe!! that’s a name out of my past, if you mean the great old San Francisco joint…

so that’s how old I am, too old to know what NVM means — could anyone enlighten me, s’il vous plait? merci!

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/303318/jimmy_boyd.html jimmyboyd2

glad to see that Lauren T. has good scores too.

sincerely, would somebody please explain the Pia Toscana love for me? She seemed mediocre, and to my ears off-pitch on her big, long notes. Really, inquiring minds want to know…..

It didn’t sound off pitch to me, but even if it was, most people don’t hear something like that unless it is way off. The average person is never going to even listen to whether something is out of tune as long as they like the singer.

Why is she good? Well, this particular performance was somewhat overrated, but she has a nice middle register to go along with the diva notes. So I enjoy the whole performance. Compare to someone like Latoya London, who I don’t find particularly enjoyable until she finally hits the glory note at the very end.

Pia can also sing faster songs while maintaining a good vocal tone that resonates throughout the room. That makes her performances more engaging from start to finish and, more importantly, more emotional.

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/303318/jimmy_boyd.html jimmyboyd2

Was the expression “for me” in common use pre-AI? Anytime I hear/read someone express their opinion by saying, “For me, such-and-such was pretty terrible”, I immediately picture Randy, Simon, et al.

Yes, it was. “For me” surely goes back decades.

suziq

1) I never saw anyone who reminded me less of Carrie Underwood than Lauren Alaina.
2) I am offput by the chummy familiarity/flirtiness of Lauren A and Ashton…at least at this early stage of the game.
3) Steven has to step it up in the judging department.

pottymouth

I LOVE Steven and Jlo.I think they are doing a great job as judges. Do we really need someone to tell us that sounded karoake? I don’t! I can figure it out myself. I don’t need Simon Cowell or Randy Jackson to tell me what my ears already heard.Yeah this might be a very interesting year if OMG we have to actually figure out on our own who we think sounded good or who was karoake!
At least Steven and Jlo seem to realize that their job was finished when they picked the TOP 24 for us.It’s between us and the contestants now.For God’s sake sit back and chill.Maybe now we will see some amazing performances from these kids,because there is no Simon Cowell to worry about!No freaking wonder none of these kids make it very far off the show,when you have *#@HOLE Cowell telling us all season they suck!

songsungblue

max’s opera cafe!! that’s a name out of my past, if you mean the great old San Francisco joint…

so that’s how old I am, too old to know what NVM means — could anyone enlighten me, s’il vous plait? merci!

Yes! That’s the place. On Van Ness – and I’m old too, LOL. But I do know what NVM means – Never mind. ;)

Pottymouth [heh, great name] I understand your frustration with how malevolent Simon was in the last season or two, but the point of paying these three ungodly sums of money is because they’re supposed to have an inkling about talent. I mean, they’re JUDGES. Shouldn’t they, well, judge?

BlankSlate

I apologize if this has been mentioned already but it’s late and I just have to get this off my soul.

The James Durbin thing.

So annoying that I can’t stand it anymore.

A camera hog and obnoxious. I’m sorry if he has an illness. Control yourself or you shouldn’t be vying to be an entertainer via a contestant on a COMPETITION show.

Standing up and stealing the spotlight while Ryan was talking on the bleachers. Oh my.

Watched for the camera to focus his way and then charged up his body language and clapping.

Oh he thinks he is much, much better than he is. He did not earn this moment.

Sit down, Durbin.

Other than that, fun show tonight. Girls were a little more serious about their stage presence and performances. Loosen up. I don’t want to see every step calculated in advance, even if it is. It should look natural.

mozart4898

Well I have to say I’ve been lurking off and on in the S10 threads, but I’ve made a conscious effort to try to avoid watching the show itself entirely this season (it’s a fixture in my household and has been since the start, so before long, I’ll have to physically leave the room and even the house to stay away from it). After really getting totally into a season of it and following things online, and seeing all the manipulations and all, I just can’t stomach getting invested in any of it, because it’s so obvious that the goal isn’t really to find “the best,” but to find “the most marketable,” or “the most current” or, failing that, “the one who can bring in the most AT&T power text votes,” which is a totally different animal. But anyways…

After reading some comments and seeing Pia’s performance compared to Crystal’s of last year, I finally gave in and went and listened. Yeah, the girl’s good. But I can tell you right now, she won’t win. No chance in hell. Why? Because for one, she’s not current, as people point out. If the voters want Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, or Ke$ha (the latter, by the way, I’m now listening to, for some odd reason…hey, her music is catchy and it finally caught up with me, so by no means am I a musical snob and never have been), well, Pia isn’t any of them. For another thing though…she’s a girl, and I just don’t see the audience voting a girl, like her at least, the winner again, EVER. If a girl is to win, they’ll have to be a true pop artist. I also watched Thia’s video as well, and the same goes for her. She’s a great singer, but current? No. And she’s not someone that the vastly female voting block will vote for either. Honestly it’d need to be a girl that’s totally crazy and, to be honest, probably not as talented as some of these girls (Pia, Thia, Crystal, etc) – someone along the lines of the aforementioned female pop artists of today. I honestly feel that many of the voters are subconsciously threatened by talented girls and won’t vote for them because they see them as competition…as if they’re actually all trying to attract the same guys.

The only one of the guys I’ve listened to anything of really was Casey (I think it’s him…the scruffy looking guy that played that weird thing in his audition and played the bass and sang “Why Don’t You Do Right” to get into the top 24). He caught my eye while I had my earbuds in blasting something to cover up the sounds of AI a few weeks back, just because of his look, and I pulled them out to see what he was like. Dude’s good. But here again, I don’t think he’ll have a shot at winning, because he’s not mainstream. Not knowing any of the other contestants really at this point, all I can say is that I don’t see any of those 3 winning. I have to figure they’ll all make top 12 because enough people appreciate talent that they’ll get in…but they’re not the sort that the HAC-leaning audience will want. If there’s many more like Pia, Thia, and Casey in the top 24…well, let’s just say it’s looking easier and easier for another similar guy in his mid-20s to win. It’s just the preference of the demographic that watches and votes on the show, and in their push for something different, they’ve probably made it even more likely that they’ll get another similar winner by stacking the deck with those that AREN’T that sort, concentrating the support early on for a select few. Now, if there’s a guy among the contestants that’s similar to, say, a Bruno Mars, he might have a very good chance. It’s not that I don’t feel the voters would vote for someone that’s truly talented…I just don’t think talent will get a girl to the win, even if they’re the most talented in the competition.

Tess

I like Lauren A. I like her bubbly personality and her wit and her aggressiveness and her assertiveness and her take charge attitude. I get so tired of of AI contestants who are praised for their milk toast attitudes and their humbleness and their “aw shucks” personas. Lauren’s personality reminds me of a “take no prisoners” Pink, and I luvs me some Pink. And she has that Reba sassiness and that Dolly Parton “in your face” attitude. She also reminds me of a young Bette Midler. And as far as tonight, she is one of the few who made me sit up and take notice.

pietromatos

why is tatynisa #1 on dial idol ? i’m scared !!!

jennyl

I really like Pia. She reminds me of a diva. Beautiful, elegant and poise. Lovely tone with different textures. Great voice control. I love it when she did gradual cresendos. Slight runs in the begining of the song. Beautiful high notes. Emotional connection = check. I really want to hear more of her. She is way more current than CB. At least she doesn’t only sing in two volumes i.e. soft or yelling.

Dlynne

I honestly feel that many of the voters are subconsciously threatened by talented girls and won’t vote for them because they see them as competition…as if they’re actually all trying to attract the same guys.

mozart, I know it might seem that way but I hope it’s not. I think a lot of preference has to do with genre and individual taste. If there is a subconscious preference, I’d say it has more to do with basic instincts rather than being threatened by talent.

Having said that, as much as I’m drawn to male singers, I really like a lot of female singers. My favorites right now are Adele and Florence Welch, both of whom are beautiful and have fabulous voices. Adele’s happens to be out-of-this-world beautiful and Florence’s a little quirky. If Idol could find a girl with that kind of talent, and I know they are out there, with a current/unique sound, I would vote till my fingers bled. But so far they haven’t.

I do agree with most of what you’ve said, though. It’s probably not going to be a girls’ year unless one of these girls really steps it up throughout the season.

springboard

songsungblue:
03/03/2011 at 3:43 am
Pottymouth [heh, great name] I understand your frustration with how malevolent Simon was in the last season or two, but the point of paying these three ungodly sums of money is because they’re supposed to have an inkling about talent. I mean, they’re JUDGES. Shouldn’t they, well, judge?

To me it is obvious that the judges are given a role, for example Randy’s changed from inarticulate nicey to blunt critique this year, and that they have to toe the party line in terms of supporting/demolishing contestants so it is hard for them to give insightful comments.
They are not paid to judge, imo, but to be charismatic good actors. Simon is a good actor, although after many season of watching idol + X Factor UK, his attitude feels like a gimmick.

Hazehel

I’m not sure how to judge the girls, no one was close to bad apart from Ta-Tynisa Wilson and Julie Zorilla. The problem is that no one stood out for me. Pia sang well but she left me cold, I thought she might do something different with a Pretenders song but she isn’t rock, and I don’t find her voice interesting – all these pop voices from the girls are getting boring in the show.

And what on earth was that weird reaction from Haley Reinhart when Randy was giving his critiques? She looked like she was trying not to throw up. Is gagging a natural reaction to bad critiques?

I don’t like those that did well, and the ones I like didn’t really give outstanding performance, so I think I’ll just list the girls I would like to see in the Top 12/13 –

Naima Adedapo – She did something completely different from Fantasia and therefore really shouldn’t be compared. (Understand that, Randy?)

Rachel Zevita – She should be in the Top 12/13 just because she is different.

Ashthon Jones – Something about her voice I like.

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – I know she sang poorly, but I like her voice.

(Just in case anyone is still wondering, the DialIdol thing is off for both Ta-Tynisa and Julie, and they ranking should be ignored.)

ray1

Used to post here about 5 seasons ago BUT due to the lack of imo great singers I dropped away….This year the singing is back! I say YEAH! There are enough “individual unique off beat” singers already in the market as Idol has been trying to produce recently to keep up with the usual demand of such. In other words-the “different quirky artist coffee house I am real laid back down to earth ” singer has become not really “different” in the music world and now is “the norm”!!.. I like the return to just being a good singer! I’m excited this year finally again…yeah, just give me some good ole fashioned singing folks.

samgamgee

Again, this is one of my least favorite seasons. I don’t get the diva type of singers. I’m missing last season already.

Marie Ruffin

I found myself missing (OK shoot me) the naturalness of someone like Crystal Bowersox, even if she didn’t have all that va-va-voom

Whatever floats your boat, but you do realize the show wants to find a “star” quality singer and performer. Somebody who will fill the seats of a stadium sized concert? Like a Rhihana or Usher or Bieb? And Crystal is a festival player right now. She can “open” with a name country star, but it’s going to take her awhile to get to Carrie Underwood level. You also realize that the record industry is suffering sales, and that southern rock and country sell to a niche audience and that the industry is looking for a crossover artist? That’s why the President of Universal Music is going to mentor.

RockiDreams

At least two singers will make me either get online or pick up the phone to vote for them – Pia and James. Last season it was an effort to even watch the show. Thank goodness it seems everyone deserves to be where they are now even though there are a few I would prefer never to grace my TV screen again – heres looking at you Lauren A. I thank she is way overrated and she sure as hell is no Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. I love Robby too and really wish he had done better. It will be interesting to see the results tonight.

Nina1

What an odd night; so many of the women still blend together musically and physically. I’m still hoping for Lauren T.,who has been consistently good and does not seem “finished” already. I also like Rachel, if only because I find her wonderfully individualistic. Thia was great last night, but she has been very inconsistent. And Pia’s voice was good, but small after Lauren II.

As for Lauren II, I am way too old to hate on her, but am inclined to; it makes me feel guilty when I beat up on a 16-year-old (even if she is really 40).

tomr

The judges really need to step it up! Someone besides Randy needs to offer constructive criticism. When you tell someone only positive things after she has just sung the entire song off key (Ta-Tynisa) you do her no favors. The viewing public is not tone deaf as a whole! It will be interesting to see who got the votes. Hope that Naima (personality), Karen (potential) and Thia (voice) are able to get there!

Marie Ruffin

pietromatos:
03/03/2011 at 5:31 am

why is tatynisa #1 on dial idol ? i’m scared !!!

Vote for the Worst?

silverwings

I think it’s strange that for years people have complained about the judges being too manipulative in telling us who is “good” and who is “bad”; i.e. creating a narrative.

So now that they have judges that are basically leaving it up to America to decide who they like, who is good, etc, people are complaining that they aren’t being manipulative enough? Wha?

I don’t miss Simon’s nastiness and holier-than-thou attitude. We can tell who is a kareoke/cruise-ship/wedding singer on our own – no need for someone who basically stomps on their hearts onstage. Yeah, I’d like for the judges to start adding some constructive criticism, like “If you make it to next week, you should try to do X” (granted, not that this tactic has been successful in the past), but I don’t need the judges to tell me who is the “best”.

Hazehel

Vote for the Worst?

No, just the FU you occasionally get with DialIdol. It looks like the Ta-Tynisa score was messed up by just one person in New York –

(Julie’s score is also unreliable because there were too few votes for her.)

MrDuffin

The words “16 year old hookers” come to mind when I watched the girls last night. If you can’t sing then switch to T&A. Except for Lauren A the show was a joke!

tomr

Agree that we don’t need to be told who is “best” but the contestants need to be given feedback that enables them to grow. I wonder if the judges watch the performances afterward to see/hear them as we do? They might change their critiques or be more constructive if they take the time to do this. To Simon’s credit (and I’m not missing him), he would do this even to the extent of correcting himself (and even apologizing) during the next show. Stand O’s should be reserved for the unusual outstanding performance. I also got the sense that there were some at the boy’s taping. If so, were they edited out? Wouldn’t be surprised in the least in their efforts to try to make it a “girls year.” There doesn’t seem to be a Kelly, Fantasia, Carrie, or Jordan in this group yet (although I’m holding out hope for Karen, Naima, Lauren T., or Thia. We’ll see.

idealistic03

been reading a lot of comments here and too bad many people here addressed kendra as forgettable :(
she’s not my fave and barely notice her before top 24 but after seeing this performance i got to say she really has something going on with her..
maybe a lot do not appreciate her performance bcoz of the song (i don’t think people are that aware of the xtina/alicia keys tune?)well i used to listen to that song 2-3 years ago or so so i’m very familiar with that and christina a. really showed a lot of vocal techniques with that and i really believe kendra performed it really well..
never thought she can perform something like this..hope she gets through.. :)

http://www.amadcow2.com amadcow2

First of all, I think that this is the year that Dial-Idol might fall by the wayside. With online voting starting this year, I’m pretty sure traditional phone voting might be overtaken by the combination of online and text. I also think that there must be something wrong with the Dial-Idol code this early on, so I would characterize those ‘results’ as totally unreliable.

Based on what Ryan said during the broadcast, they do intend to pick the wildcard choices on tonight’s show. If they were going to change up the format, then you would think that they would edit that out. Therefore, I think that the report of a wildcard show next week is false (*breathes a sigh of relief*).

I believe that the ‘guys’ had a much easier break between top 5, wildcard hopefuls, and AI fodder. The middle pack for the ‘girls’ is so much harder to call. That is why I believe that there will be 3 wildcards, 2 of which go to our female contestants (if not all 3).

So, I firmly believe that Pia, Lauren T. and (*sigh*) Thia to be safe

I would also begrudgingly put friggin’ Cowgirl Barbie (Lauren A.) into that category. (I would hate to see this silly cheerleader go deep in this competition)

That leaves the 5th slot to be the real competition for this group. I believe everyone else, except for Julie and Ta-Tynisa have a legitimate shot, leaving a tight bunch for one or two wildcards.

In a perfect world where I’m king, I would put Karen, Naima, and Rachel through, but I’m thinking it will be a tough fight between Karen, Naima, Ashton, and Haley.

Lauren’s personality reminds me of a “take no prisoners” Pink, and I luvs me some Pink.

No way. Pink is a total badass. Pink would eat Lauren A for breakfast and then spend the rest of the day picking shiny sparkly things out of her teeth. If this season had a Pink-like chick I’d be on her team. Otherwise I’m pretty much Team Naima or Lauren T.

http://www.dancin.ca dancin

i read one comment here about star performer being looked for
i watched tonite with my oldest and we both found it dull and boring (my daughter’s comment being) ok get to the finale and stick a fork in this show its done lol
some good voices but boring performances with a couple of minor exceptions IMHO
i liked lauren T’s voice and Lauren A’s voice and in your face personality and Naima’s dress
ya some good voices but i can go to church sunday and hear good voices! very very disheartened this season so far. (thought the judging would be much better and i can’t believe i’m saying this also YEAH RANDY!!!!!)

Hazehel

That is why I believe that there will be 3 wildcards, 2 of which go to our female contestants (if not all 3).

The producers/judges would be mad to do that. There isn’t enough variety in the girls, and you’d end up with the same bland group of girls, and that makes for a boring show.

tierbee

My very late take on the girls – it’s a compliment to them that I hate, hate to see it narrowed down so quickly.

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – That performance just wasn’t good enough. She’s fodder anyway, and in the first spot of the night. It was a pale imitation, I think. I am not liking agreeing with Randy. I find it unnerving.

Naima Adedapo – I was worried about this since Fantasia’s version on the Idol stage was so very memorable. I was glad that she picked up the tempo and did a completely different take on it. I worry about her going so early – I like her a lot. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was good. Hope she makes it to the next round.

Kendra Chantelle – LOVE her voice, but I’m not sure that song was a good choice. I think she’ll get lost in the shuffle. It just didn’t stand out.

Rachel Zevita – Aww, Rachel is one of my favorites but I just don’t think that worked.

Karen Rodriguez – There’s not much you can do to make “Hero” anything but sleepy, and this was very sleepy for me. I love Karen, she has a beautiful voice and she looked so lovely. I hated that it bored me so much.

Lauren Turner – I love this girl. Love the husky voice. Not sure about the song choice, but at least it wasn’t a dirge ballad. I really, really hope she gets through to the Top 12.

Ashton Jones – I wish her vocals matched her great confidence and look, because she looks like a little star. Her vocals weren’t bad, they just weren’t powerful enough, I didn’t think, to rise above another really sleepy song.

Julie Zorrilla – If you’re going to take on Kelly, you better be able to wail. And that song just ate Julie alive. That wasn’t good.

Haley Reinhart – She has a cool, raspy voice but appears to be allergic to enunciation. Or consonants. Iiiiiii keeee ooooo faaaiiiiiii… If she gets through, I hope the vocal coaches work with her and get rid of some of the marshmallow stuff. Sticky vocals? I don’t know how to describe it, ha.

Thia Megia – She has a beautiful voice and is such a lovely girl BUT… I’d love to see her sing something younger and not David Foster-y. That said, she should make it to the Top 12.

Lauren Alaina – Ugh, I feel bad that I don’t like this kid more but I find her so, so offputting. She’s got a good voice, and confidence to spare but she bugs me. I guess at least she didn’t look like a cupcake :) She shouldn’t have any trouble getting through so we’ll see if she changes my mind.

Pia Toscano – Nice way to end the show. Beautiful girl, lovely voice. Can she win? Don’t know, but at least for now one of my girlfriends texted me to tell me this is her new girl crush and my husband loves her too, ha.

Judges-wise, I could use a little less nice Jlo and Steven and a little more constructive criticism but I don’t miss Simon’s “mean for the sake of being mean” here… the judges can still grow into this, we’ll see how it goes. Agreeing with Randy this much is unnerving.

jennyl

So now that they have judges that are basically leaving it up to America to decide who they like, who is good, etc, people are complaining that they aren’t being manipulative enough? Wha?

This made me laugh so hard cause its so true!

Finally finished all the vids. For the guys, I only enjoyed Stefano. The rest were so so boring. I couldn’t even sit through Jacob and Casey. They need to pick better songs. The girls just made it worth for me to watch the show again.

Indigobunting

At least two singers will make me either get online or pick up the phone to vote for them – Pia and James. Last season it was an effort to even watch the show.

Yes, you spoke for me too. Thought I wouldn’t watch again; I fast forwarded through a lot last year. Great talent early on this year overall and interesting people to watch also.

I really like Naima also; hope she doesn’t get thrown over for too many divas (Thia, pia, the two Laurens).
Guys are interesting too.

And James, bring it on! Can’t wait to see what that nut will do next, lol. I thought I would just laugh at his performances but so far kid shows a lot of promise.

Nina1

So now that they have judges that are basically leaving it up to America to decide who they like, who is good, etc, people are complaining that they aren’t being manipulative enough? Wha?

Ironic, isn’t it? I think the judges will need to step it up, but at this point in the competition we know who is awful and why bash them when they are about to leave, anyway?

idealistic03

my top 6 girls

kendra- i think jlo is right there is more to her that people need to see..but has to show a little more of her personality to stand out..

pia- i like her though i believe standing-o is a bit too much?but she deserves to get to top 12..

karen- the spanglish version of hero didn’t bring anything new to me but i like her for having a goal of being the 1st latina idol so i’ll give her props for that..and i really think she’s good for a singer..BUT she has to be really wise in picking songs or she might be boring and needs to tone down a bit when choosing her outfit?

thia- nice voice but i believe it’s not enough for her to last..show us more personality and pleeaaaaaaaseee choose songs that are age appropriate (doesn’t really need to be current but wtf not something like the age of my grandparents?idk)

the last 2…

well lauren t- powerful voice and i like that she didn’t do any gimmicks for her to stand out..

ashton jones- she kinda reminds me of syesha (not my fave during s7 but she gives really good performances)but her confidence is somewhat big bordering to being over too confident and so proud of herself..

or

lauren a..aaagghh hate to say this but i am sure she’s a lock for top 12 (an obvious fave)she’s not really bad but idk i don’t like her..she seems to be like attention seeker and gimmicky..and please she’s no kelly nor carrie she reminds me of katie..and unlike many others she gives too much of her personality i guess me no likey but steven ty surely does.. :(

kinda dissapointed with julie not a fan but she really has some talent and a good pianist..i like her “love song and something” performance..should have done gravity or king of anything instead?

Jae

id

ealistic03:
03/03/2011 at 7:40 am
been reading a lot of comments here and too bad many people here addressed kendra as forgettable

Unfortunately Kendra doesn’t stand out for me. I thought she sang well but I think others did better. I didn’t remember her from the audtion weeks untill I saw her background recap. She may be a wild card pick. I could see her perhaps building steam as the competition goes.

Jae

thia- nice voice but i believe it’s not enough for her to last..show us more personality and pleeaaaaaaaseee choose songs that are age appropriate (doesn’t really need to be current but wtf not something like the age of my grandparents?idk)

I speak as a Thia fan from audition rounds but she may be on to something with her song selection. I mean what is Idol’s demographic age average? 50! We may not know those songs( I didn’t thought I liked her performance) but the viewing audience may.

Jae

samgamgee:
03/03/2011 at 6:53 am
Again, this is one of my least favorite seasons. I don’t get the diva type of singers. I’m missing last season already.

Last season is already happily forgotten for me. I have to think a moment to remember who the top 10 were. Already this group out sings nearly everyone one of them and a lot of people in s8 too. So far my favorite group all around since s7.

monleo1705

OMG!!!!!!!! Pia and Kendra were AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!! When was the last time we heard such pure powerhouses voices on Idol???! It has been ages!! Bring it on girls! Pia and Kendra to the top!!!!

Laura T may have pipes but she doesn’t seem like the whole package to me…

Chicagolaw

Can’t believe I am saying this, but, a girl will actually win this year :) Between Pia and Alaina, one of them will take it. James and Jacob will be too polarizing, and Scotty won’t have the versatility.

fuzzywuzzy

Looks like Kelly is a Lauren A. fan. From facebook via Twitter:

Just saw Lauren Alaina perform Reba’s song on Idol and she is the cutest thing! I can’t wait to hear a record from her! I will add to what Randy said about her being a mix of me and Carrie, she’s also got some Kellie Pickler in there. Sing your butt off girl! I hope you make it far in the competition!
8 hours ago via iPhone

I speak as a Thia fan from audition rounds but she may be on to something with her song selection. I mean what is Idol’s demographic age average? 50! We may not know those songs( I didn’t thought I liked her performance) but the viewing audience may.

i hope she really is up to something with her song choice :)
but since u mentioned her audition it made me think of chasing pavements (a current song) she might not be old fashioned really..

She may be a wild card pick. I could see her perhaps building steam as the competition goes.

i’m crossing my fingers..i guess it would help a bit (for people to remember) if she performed maybe 7th or 8th..whatever i hope she gets through..

Q3

i read one comment here about star performer being looked for
i watched tonite with my oldest and we both found it dull and boring (my daughter’s comment being) ok get to the finale and stick a fork in this show its done lol

They clearly tried to refocus on the show on the singers — but these girls are boring and bland.

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

There are a couple of guys who can really sing but neither seem to have that “X Plus” that Cook or Adam had.

And when Randy is the only judge making any meaningful comments — you know there is trouble at the judges table.

IMO door is wide open for Simon and X Factor right now. Idol will need to stir this one up a bit so I expect a controversy or some other news-grab stunt. (And yes, the ratings are good but there is no real TV competition — last year there was the Olympics.)

Still it is significantly better than AI9 — from the singers to the judges — so at this it is headed in the right direction.

bean99

The girls didn’t excite me at all. I usually recap all the performances but can’t remember half of them.

I liked Haley and haven’t up until then. I guess Lauren Alaina did well but the pimping and her personality really bug me. Hoping I can get over it because it’s clear she’s going to be around a long time. Loved Pia and may be my new favorite since Julie was horrible. IA that Lauren Turner is very good but am not sure she’s going to be a fan favorite.

meyers77

Ta-Tynisa – Not a good performance. Fairly forgettable. Done and done.

Naima – Really liked her take on Summertime. Different. Would like to see her go through. But coming from the 2nd spot, it will be hard. She does stand out though.

Kendra – Liked her voice. Did a decent job. Enough to be remembered? Not sure.

Lauren T. – I like the voice. Don’t like her though. Not sure what it is, just something about her I don’t like. If she gets through, that will be ok though, cause I like her voice.

Ashton – Nicely done. We may have a diva voice this year. (don’t like diva voices, well don’t like diva songs)

Julie – Like Rachel, pretty much missed the boat here.

Haley – I liked her better than I have in the past. Not as much growling and squatting.

Thia – Really, really sounded good. She knows what she is doing. May be too pageanty still. Needs to loosen up and show what kind of artist she is gonna be….unless it’s just a pageant singer???

Lauren – Really like her attitude. Decent voice. Spunky, cute, she could do well. She does remind me of a cross between Kelly and Carrie.

Pia – Did a great job. I like her voice better than the other “singer” girls. It has some character to it. Doesn’t sound like every other decent girl singer I’ve ever heard. (i.e. the opposite of Karen)

JudyL

As for Lauren II, I am way too old to hate on her, but am inclined to; it makes me feel guilty when I beat up on a 16-year-old (even if she is really 40).

Funny! No guilt necessary. She is way too confident and has obviously been told for years how great she is and is probably being told now by TPTB that she has this Idol thing sewn up.

Did you see the movie “Election”? Great movie and a perfect example of a young girl who would stop at nothing to accomplish her goals. This is how I see Lauren A. Personally, I like my Idols on the likable side.

ParticleHustler

Re the judging – I think this is TPTB’s attempt to make Randy out to be more substantive than the dufus he’s been for the past decade by allowing him to be the ‘reality check’ voice of reason on the panel. I refuse to believe that Steven Tyler actually thinks 10 or 11 out of 12 of them really performed/sang well. I think he’s playing the stooge.

fanaround

Really enjoyed Pia, Kendra and Naima. Despite an early aversion, I also found myself enjoying Thia. Disappointed in Rachel. Lauren A seriously needs to cut it out with letting us all in on her sooper sekrit in-jokes with all the judges. It is intensely annoying and makes me feel like I’m back in high school.

Trina

I thought the guys as a whole were more interesting (yup James melted MY face off too!) but I still think a girl can win. JMO but the last three years there hasnt been a girl that inspired me to vote and didnt feel would have been a good winner. This year? Nope I’m voting for Lauren T. and Pia, I also voted for Kelly, Carrie and Melinda in the past. Pia especially I think is exactly what they need in a winner and I find her to be likable.

nncw

I think Lauren should win it – I think Randy’s comment of her being a cross between Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood is spot on so how can she not become the next American Idol. My preferences (being in the 50’s age range) are Jacob or Naima each of them have natural talent, musicality and they really catch my attention every time they sing. Pia, Ashton (like Jennifer Hudson), Thia, Karen have beautiful voices for the women’s side. I like Casey (Matt Girard with more energy!). Find Kendra, Hayley, and Laura’s voices irritating and it is like they are copying a style which is not natural to them. Julie, Rachel and Ta Tynisia should be going home for sure. Hoping the women will dominate in season 10!

Hazehel

They clearly tried to refocus on the show on the singers — but these girls are boring and bland.
…
There are a couple of guys who can really sing but neither seem to have that “X Plus” that Cook or Adam had.

I would agree that the girls are bland in general, and that there is no guy of the likes of Cook or Adam this year. But I am more hopeful. The guys are generally not as polished (or the kind of finished product) like Cook or Adam, but I see a lot of potential with some of the guys. I hope the show can give them careful guidance on singing and performance (Scotty, James and Stefano if they get through to the finals), and they might turn out to be really good and something special. Jacob and Casey are both rather niche performers and I don’t think there is great potential for commercial success for them, but they can be really good in whatever niche they find themselves in after the show.

I think Lauren Alaina can have some success depending on what they do with her. Thia can have success in the the Philippines like Jasmine Trias (and she is better than Jasmine), but I’m not sure what she can do in the pop world in the US. So far I have not heard any other girl who can succeed in the world of pop music. May change later, who knows.

just sayin

I’ve been reading through the responses,and although I see a few others with me, I’m so surprised that not everyone shares my love for Naima! I thought she was way above all the others last night in talent and performance. She was by far my favorite.

I’ll be so disappointed if she doesn’t continue.

MrDuffin

Lauren A is a lot less annoying than Durbin. At least Lauren can actually sing and does not just scream.

Eriko

One word comes to mind that sums up the evening for me, Generic. IMO, Crystal last year was head and shoulders above all the girls last night. On the other hand, the S10 guys are IMO much better than last year. So, if a girl who was so much better than the guys last year, didn´t win, I don´t see a girl ever winning AI again.

Kiska12

I personally liked girls’ performances more than those of the boys. I thought that overall the night was very strong. There is a number of singers that I would like to hear more from: Pia, Haley, Lauren T, and Rachel.

http://www.amadcow2.com amadcow2

When you start to go deeper in the competition, you need someone who has consistency. You don’t have to knock it out of the park every night. You just need to avoid the bottom. Who has that consistency this year? I would say Pia, Casey, Lauren T., and Karen. Scotty, Jacob and Lauren A. will fail when they are faced with song a genera that falls outside their wheelhouse. Paul and Stephano are wildcards for me, but could hold together that type of consistency. I honestly see someone like Pia holding it together to go very deep, probably to the finals. I just don’t know if she can win.

bridget

I had really high hopes for Rachel singing “Criminal.” I thought that song’s vibe (dark, edgy, angst-y) would suit her and allow her to showcase her uniqueness. (Remember that mv?) And then she sang it like a number from “Chicago”! Very disappointing and I think, unless the judges ‘save her,’ that she blew her chance.

The rest all blurred together for me pretty much in terms of song choice, style, etc. – except Naima (who I’ll root for) and Lauren A. (who is annoying in the ways everyone has described but can sing and at least has distinguished herself somehow from the crowd).

I’m much more entertained by the guys thus far.

tinawina

Once we weed out the vote splitters, it will probably get better because each contestant will seem unique.

Agreed. We only need to pick a good mix of 6 out of this. And when combined with the 6 boys who make it, this is going to be a very strong to 12.

I would agree that the girls are bland in general, and that there is no guy of the likes of Cook or Adam this year.

See, I would disagree. I wouldn’t have said Cookie was dynamic the first week of the semis, but I would have said he could sing. And there were girls on that stage last night that were definitely not boring IMO. Naima was boring? Ashton? Lauren A? All had a ton of personality to me. I think this is like the season 6 semis where there was a ton of complaining about “all those black divas”. Or last season with the attack of the Lillith Fair girls. :D They clearly cast a lot of young pretty girls who like to wear nice clothes, so now they will all seem similar until we weed some out. But honestly, to me Lauren A and Lauren T are nothing alike, and neither of them have a thing in common with Thia, and all three are miles away from Naima… you get my drift. I think after tonight, it will be a nice mix.

HR

Carrie was considered by many to be “boring” the year she competed and it hasn’t stood in her way. I didn’t consider a lot of these girl’s boring but if that’s the biggest complaint some have it’s not a deal breaker.

The only concern I have is if the audience left for this show will vote for a girl if they deserve it. People can make the argument there isn’t a bias against that gender but after last year I no longer believe that.

Kirsten

I would say Pia, Casey, Lauren T., and Karen. Scotty, Jacob and Lauren A. will fail when they are faced with song a genera that falls outside their wheelhouse.

According to Nigel, they aren’t supposed to be forced into a genre outside of their wheelhouse. Theme nights are gone. Of course, Nigel changes his mind like a hyperactive jack russell terrier in a field of rabbits, so who knows.

I will say that, even though I intensely dislike her, Lauren A has shown a great deal of versatility. Unlike Scotty and Jacob, I think she can sing a variety of genres.

jga94

The girls are so much better than the guys this year….it’s hard to pick just 5…but:

1. Lauren Turner- she picked the best song IMO;it’s different, it stood out, she delivered
2. Thia–I don’t get the Thia hate….what others perceive as being robotic or too calculating may just be shyness….she obviously has a beautiful crystal clear voice
3. Pia-I never thought she’d be this could;however, I am not totally convinced
4. Naima- she’s a musical natural…she has a good voice;I liked it albeit it may have reminded me a little of those old movies where the leading lady sings with a basket of fruits on her head
5. Lauren Alaina-I think she was overpraised…but she does seem sure of herself and seemed to be at ease singing

6. Ashton- she obviously has pipes but the song choice is wrong
7. Kendra-nice…but I couldn’t remember her halfway

8. Karen- I don’t like that song AT ALL
9. Haley-I can’t stand her growling….too much
10. Rachel–
what happened?
11. Julie-I had high hopes for her…past tense
12. Tynisia…..
4.

weese

As much as I loved the guys the night before, I disliked the girls last night. With the exception of Lauren Turner I could eliminate all of them easily. Seven guys and a girl would be my top eight and I would just leave it at that.

Perhaps it has been mentioned(didn’t read all 600 comments) but Steven Tyler gave Lauren A. a critique meant for Lauren T. This show was edited and no one caught it so I am kinda certain we will be treated to more “Paula ” moments along the way.

Landmd

dancin:
03/03/2011 at 7:56 am
i read one comment here about star performer being looked for
i watched tonite with my oldest and we both found it dull and boring (my daughter’s comment being) ok get to the finale and stick a fork in this show its done lol
some good voices but boring performances with a couple of minor exceptions IMHO
i liked lauren T’s voice and Lauren A’s voice and in your face personality and Naima’s dress
ya some good voices but i can go to church sunday and hear good voices! very very disheartened this season so far. (thought the judging would be much better and i can’t believe i’m saying this also YEAH RANDY!!!!!)

I agree! Only I dont care for Lauren A that much. My top 5:

1 Lauren T – want to hear more from her.

2 Haley – hope she makes it, gets some help with stage presence.

3 Pia – nice voice, song did nothing for me tho.

4 Thia – want to hear more, pretty voice but I get no emotional connection when she sings. (has the same problem as James to me)

5 Karen – pretty voice, the spanish was distracting, I dont speak spanish…but had she sang it all in spanish I think I would of liked it more.

WC- Naima – pretty, loved her dress, nice voice, not a fan of that song.

Sad thing is other than my top 4 and Naima I had to go look at the girls pictures to remember each one.

I have never cared for diva voices from female or males.

The boys were more fun to watch.

jpfan

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

Agree. The girls are all lacking in the personality parade except Lauren who’s not very likeable. The way they’re dressing them isn’t helping either. I know Carrie was boring but that seems to work in country. Pop is another story. ;)

Nina1

Perhaps it has been mentioned(didn’t read all 600 comments) but Steven Tyler gave Lauren A. a critique meant for Lauren T.

WHAT? You kidding?

Tess

Unless I am totally in my dodage, I do seem to remember that “theme” nights have been eliminated for this year…no rock, no country, no disco, no mo-town etc. And also eliminated is the use of weekly mentors representing their theme weeks. My understanding is that “themes” will be broad like songs from the 50s (as a bad example). This means country guys can choose a country song, rockers a rock song, divas a belter song, jazz guys a jazzy song etc.

People won’t have to ridicule themselves by trying to sing out of their wheelhouse…and its about time. When, in the real post idol world, does a pop artist HAVE TO sing country, or a ballad crooner have to wail on a rock song?

So we don’t have to worry too much about a singer’s ability to sing in all genres…yea and a bigger yea.

ETA: I should refresh more often…Kirsten said it better.

bridget

That’s funny if Tyler messed that up – I went back and can see how his comment might apply better to Lauren T. But how do you know that? (I’m not doubting, I’m just curious.) Overall, Tyler seemed less engaged or less relaxed or less . . . something last night.

JudyL

The boys were more fun to watch.

This sentence pretty much says it all, for me. Several of the guys obviously just love to perform and had a blast doing it. OTOH, the gals were so darn serious about it. I don’t how many of the ladies are into singing just for their love of music. I know, I know, their chance of a lifetime and all, but still. And the girls who have been groomed from early on to be performers just bug me.

wjmtv

JudyL:

Did you see the movie “Election”? Great movie and a perfect example of a young girl who would stop at nothing to accomplish her goals. This is how I see Lauren A. Personally, I like my Idols on the likable side.

Excellent observation. :)

This crew (both boys and girls) definitely knows its way around a stage better than S9, but there’s a downside to that. S9 was much more natural in their state of unpolish. So far, I’m not as excited for this year, because I want singers I can believe in.

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

Yes and it’s been said million times that a girl like that wouldn’t make week 2 of the finals unless you’re in a format like X factor where the judges decide who goes home (that’s how they got Katie and Cher so far last year) and by the time they saved them two or three times the audience would dislike them a lot.

I’m really surprised at all that love for Naima’s summertime when the same smiling off beat performance was qualified as pageanty and disconnected to the lyrics for Thia. Seems like a double standard to me.
I didn’t particularly care for either one to be honest.

Hazehel

See, I would disagree. I wouldn’t have said Cookie was dynamic the first week of the semis,

The problem with Cook the first week was his looks, not so much his singing (and I rather enjoyed him twirling the mic stand). His best performances of course come later. So far with most the guys I see a lot of raw talent, but not really polished like Cook or Adam. Casey and Jacob are probably the ones most accomplished musically, but as I said, they are really rather too niche to have commercial success.

I do think some of the girls can pull something out special, we’ll just have to wait and see. I think Rachel is still trying to find herself, she is too much of a chameleon at the moment. Perhaps it might be best for her to go into acting/theater, playing a role rather then be someone who is herself. Perhaps the show can help her find out who she is, but that seems unlikely. Still, I’d rather to have her on the finals that a lot of the other girls.

lili_anne7

I LOVED the girls last night. SOOO Much better then the guys IMO. Which is kind of funny b/c a lot of you liked the guys better and thought the girls were boring. I just think the girls are more current and marketable. On the guys night I didn’t really like any of them, with the exception of 2 people.

tinawina

So far with most the guys I see a lot of raw talent, but not really polished like Cook or Adam.
I do think some of the girls can pull something out special, we’ll just have to wait and see.

I agree. There are a lot of people who aren’t quite there yet but could be with some coaching IMO.

Could do okay even if they don’t light the world on fire: Stefano, Kendra

Reserve verdict until I see her do something upbeat where she has to perform: Pia

I agree with what you said about Rachel. She needs to go somewhere and marinate for a couple of years. But when she comes back, she will be a force.

LoveDaRocker

Don’t get the lack of love for Karen. Must be that the field is that strong.
She took on a big song that was a big hit for a big artist and nailed it, in two languages.
Best of the night? No. Bottom 7? Heck no.

LoveDaRocker

If there is justice in this (i.e., voting is based on last night’s performances), Ta-Tynisia, Julie (sad), Rachel, and Haley will go tonight.

partyintheusa

Lauren is so polished it’s scary.

You also said this about Thia in Hollywood Week. Why is it scary when a teenager is polished but not if a 20-year-old is? If a teenager isn’t polished, they get crucified for being too young and not ready yet.

This is why they should NOT even reveal their ages to the viewers. It creates an automatic discrimination simply based on age for the younger contestants no matter what they do.

gangreen29

They clearly tried to refocus on the show on the singers — but these girls are boring and bland.

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

The show has never had anyone with personalities like that.. so how has it survived 10 seasons if that is what the show needs Q3?

I HATE this unfair standard that exists. Idol women have to have major sparkling personalities, talent is never enough. Some of our past male winners and male contestants that made it far had less than sparkling personalities, some of the male contestants this year have less than sparkling personalities. It just seems like the bar for male contestants to be successful seems so much lower than the women.

Eriko

I HATE this unfair standard that exists. Idol women have to have major sparkling personalities, talent is never enough.

ITA…wonder how many here would have said that Adele lacked sparkle and was boring if she´d been on AI. I guess very many, also many who love her today and own her music. I´ll take substance over packaging any day. And considering Adele´s sales, I´m not the only one

LoveDaRocker

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

The original British show was called Pop-Idol, and someone wisely changed it when it crossed the pond. AI is trying to find someone who can be a very successful recording artist. If that comes in the form of Lady Gaga, that’s fine. Carrie and Daughtry, and even Kelly, are not really pop-artists like those you mentioned (and are kind-of bland, but that can be debated). That’s not a coincidence.
X-Factor is probably more likely to find someone like that. And it hasn’t yet. So …

LoveDaRocker

Randy to Lauren T.: That’s how you do it man.
Me: I agree, she does look like a man.

tinawina

Idol women have to have major sparkling personalities, talent is never enough.

And they can’t be too pretty and wear dresses. Don’t forget that. LOL

They also can’t be too confident, unless they are not traditionally attractive, in which case it is okay to be confident.

They cant be too polished, because then they are like “robots”. They have to be raw and real. But not too raw and real, or people will say they don’t have enough class.

And they have to be happy, or people will complain that they are angry bitches, a la Amanda Overmeyer. But they cant be TOO happy, or they get called bubbly annoying idiots.

And they can’t ever be overtly sexy, unless, once again, she is not traditionally attractive.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you could never pay me enough to be an Idol contestant. :D

I could make a very similar list for the guys BTW. The AI audience is very demanding of the personalities of all the contestants IMO, which is why we end up with the least offensive option so many times. It is never enough to just stand there and sing well, you have to make puppies and rainbows shoot out of your buttocks, but with just the right shade of confetti.

Eriko

And they can’t be too pretty and wear dresses. Don’t forget that. LOL

They also can’t be too confident, unless they are not traditionally attractive, in which case it is okay to be confident.

They cant be too polished, because then they are like “robots”. They have to be raw and real. But not too raw and real, or people will say they don’t have enough class.

And they have to be happy, or people will complain that they are angry bitches, a la Amanda Overmeyer. But they cant be TOO happy, or they get called bubbly annoying idiots.

And they can’t ever be overtly sexy, unless, once again, she is not traditionally attractive.

LOL! You really nailed it. In other words, if you don´t have a penis, you can´t win AI!

partyintheusa

And they can’t be too pretty and wear dresses. Don’t forget that. LOL

They also can’t be too confident, unless they are not traditionally attractive, in which case it is okay to be confident.

They cant be too polished, because then they are like “robots”. They have to be raw and real. But not too raw and real, or people will say they don’t have enough class.

And they have to be happy, or people will complain that they are angry bitches, a la Amanda Overmeyer. But they cant be TOO happy, or they get called bubbly annoying idiots.

And they can’t ever be overtly sexy, unless, once again, she is not traditionally attractive.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you could never pay me enough to be an Idol contestant. :D

Oh man…I could not have stated it better myself! That was brilliant! Kelly had just the right combo, but back then, the show was new and people weren’t over analyzing every little detail. Carrie was supposedly robotic but then she was the one laughing all the way to the bank after her win and all the years since then. It just gets worse and less forgiving every season. I want a girl to win so badly, even though there a few guys I like. I think there are some outstanding ladies this year. It would be a shame if not one of them could take it all.

LoveDaRocker

tinawina:
Love your post. I agree.

But that’s what you get when you are judged by the masses. The person is smart, the masses are stupid (somebody said that once).

Politics is the same way, that’s why politicians are how they are. Really smart people, generally, don’t want to go through the trouble, so we get the ones we have.

Grammie Kari

The View just presented four performances (Jacob, Thia, Casey & Pia) and the loudness of the band was even worse. You have four terrific singers there, and only Thia came through loud and clear during her a cappela segment. With all the money Idol has, they need to correct this problem immediately!

Interesting post, tinawina! I would ask one question… when you have a talent as great as Pia, where does she go? My favorite part of Idol is seeing the contestants grow each week and surprise us. I am not saying she is a robot, but she is so polished and professional – will she get better?

http://myspace.com/susanatfox sumidol

My favorites are now, Haley, Pia, Thia and Lauren A but not in that order, so many good but these are the ones I still remember this morning. Good Show but damn Steven and Jennifer everyone is NOT amazing awesome and beautiful. You are running out of words to describe the really good ones when you use all of that on the bad ones!

Tess

I think someone said it earlier on in the thread…women are just naturally predisposed to be “jealous of” and “hate on” other women. It might not be something we own up…in fact most people would poo-poo the idea, but I’ve been around long enough to know that this phenomenon truly exists. And the more other women have the “goods” that we would like to possess, whether it be looks or charm or a body or an assertive personality, the more we tend to be jealous of them and that jealousy often translates into petty dislike.

I, too, would never put myself out front and center on Idol for other women to throw tomatoes at.

IdolThoughts

I really like Lauren. I think ANYTIME a 16 year old girl who is not a size 0 can be confident in her own skin…it’s great! Why not celebrate what a spunky, confident young woman she is rather than hate on her? To be a performer you have to have confidence. Whether it’s a quiet confidence like Scotty or an out and proud confidence and swagger like Durbin or Lauren…great! And for the record, I really do think that Lauren sounds like Kelly and Carrie put together. That’s not to say that she is as good…but she definitely has elements of both.

glamertitis

Last year was acousticorama, this year is Miss America, talent segment, with a Tot and Tiara graduate tossed in. ;)

I find the opinion that women are jealous of the girls laughable!

Viewers want to be entertained – they are watching a reality TV show with some singing – they do not care about the contestants or winner once the show is over.

Hazehel

And they can’t be too pretty and wear dresses. Don’t forget that. LOL

They also can’t be too confident, unless they are not traditionally attractive, in which case it is okay to be confident.

They cant be too polished, because then they are like “robots”. They have to be raw and real. But not too raw and real, or people will say they don’t have enough class.

And they have to be happy, or people will complain that they are angry bitches, a la Amanda Overmeyer. But they cant be TOO happy, or they get called bubbly annoying idiots.

And they can’t ever be overtly sexy, unless, once again, she is not traditionally attractive.

That is the kind of characterization that is unfair, because they are said by different people with different taste. No one is going to please everyone, someone is always going to criticize a contestant for something, that doesn’t mean everyone is saying the same thing, just that one person said that, and it has no significance apart from that. No one is expecting a contestant to be all those things you mentioned.

Personally I don’t mind if a contestant is flawed in some way or another, I just want him or her to be something different, or have that something undefinable that appeals to me. That’s why I say I would prefer Rachel, Ta-Tynisa, Naima and Ashthon to be in the finals, even if I think they aren’t the best and at least 3 of them are going to get cut. Pia or Lauren A just don’t appeal to me however well they might have sung last night and will likely get through to the finals.

bridget

Yeah, LOL, good points about women in general.

I think only guys should critique the gals because otherwise who’s to know whether an opinion is legit or merely the result of the jealousy to which women are naturally predisposed? And even if a gal claims she’s not jealous, how can you tell? (Because we’re predisposed to sneakiness, too. And sarcasm.)

partyintheusa

I really like Lauren. I think ANYTIME a 16 year old girl who is not a size 0 can be confident in her own skin…it’s great! Why not celebrate what a spunky, confident young woman she is rather than hate on her? To be a performer you have to have confidence. Whether it’s a quiet confidence like Scotty or an out and proud confidence and swagger like Durbin or Lauren…great! And for the record, I really do think that Lauren sounds like Kelly and Carrie put together. That’s not to say that she is as good…but she definitely has elements of both.

That is an excellent post! I also agree with your assessment on Lauren A. And I believe that the comparisons to Kelly and Carrie were in terms of style. I totally thought the same thing even before the judges said it. I hate that people automatically assume they were saying that she is already at that caliber. Though she sure is on her way if she keeps performing this well.

tinawina

That is the kind of characterization that is unfair, because they are said by different people with different taste. No one is going to please everyone, someone is always going to criticize a contestant for something, that doesn’t mean everyone is saying the same thing, just that one person said that, and it has no significance apart from that. No one is expecting a contestant to be all those things you mentioned.

That was the point. If you are on the show you are hit with criticism from all directions, much of it conflicting, and finding a sweet spot that appeals to a large amount of people is like threading a needle. I listed those because over the years, that’s what I’ve seen come at the girls consistently, and here they are again this year. There is nothing going on right now that wasn’t said about Carrie Underwwod or Kat McPhee. And like I said, I could make a similar list for the boys. This is why we get the least offensive people rising to the top most of the time IMO.

They get up on stage, sing well, and its not enough unless you can find a way to please as many people as possible with all the other stuff that has nothing to do with singing. It is what it is.

Mary102

Ok, my take on last night:

I generally think that the women have better voices, and more confidence and polish, than many of the guys this year, but most were very forgettable and bland, and too many of them ran together in my mind. This was my fear when the top 24 were announced – lots of talent in the girls, but no real personalities to really jump out and make people take notice and remember them. Many of the song choices last night were BAD and so Season 2. Ugh. I barely remember any of them now, even if they were sung quite well (Karen Rodriguez, I’m looking at you).

* Tatanysa = OMG trainwreck. That was attrocious. The only thing more attrocious than the performance was the judging. You have to actual LISTEN to be a judge, JLo and Steven!
* Naima = better than I expected, since she was tackling a Fantasia classic. At least she did her own thing with it. A little too loungy though. But loved the dress, and hope she makes it through because of her uniqueness. She’s one of the few girls that actually stands out from the rest. I think a top 12 without her would suck.
* Kendra = great job, but maybe a little TOO much like many of the other women in that middle, belting, big voice pack
* Lauren Turner = lots of energy, fire, and rawness. I like her. Hope she makes it through too.
*Rachel = Oh, Rachel. Such high hopes for her to be quirky and crazy. But that was just a mess. I hardly even recognized the song! In another year with weaker talent she might have squeezed by for awhile on the “quirky weird” factor, but this year, she should be cut.
* Ashton = pretty good, lots of spunk, but I completely forgot this performance after.
* Janelle – I mean Haley, oops ;-) = OMG what was with those OTT antics on stage. The vocals were (mostly) ok, but the wild stage gestures and stupid faces completely took me out of that. Plus that song is so overdone. Next. Arguing didn’t help her either
* Karen = dated and forgettable, though pretty.
* Julie = terrible choice, terribly sung. She’s so good, but that was just a bad choice. She kept losing her breath at the end. That song is hard, and Julie’s voice doesn’t have the fullness of Kelly’s to pull it off.
* Thia = very nice tone, the first I’ve been really impressed with the clarity of her tone. She’ll make it through, though she’s almost TOO confident and poised on that stage. Needs a bit more roughness or else in danger of being boring.
* Lauren A = OMG, the hyperbole with her is already old. I don’t like over pimping, and this is to the max. Before the judges even said it, I actually thought to myself, OMG they’re trying to make her Carrie and Kelly combined. Ugh. And her wide-eyed, “aww shucks ME?” act to it is already old. Thing is, she’s actually really good, but the over-pimping is a real turnoff this early in the show.
* Pia = I’m not a fan of that song, so points off for that. But she looked gorgeous and did a great job with it. Easily on to the next round. I wouldn’t exactly call it an idol moment though. I really have to be moved to call it that.

Who will get voted through:

1. Lauren A.
2. Pia
3. Thia
4/5 My hope is for Naima and Lauren T.

Possible wildcard = Could choose almost anyone out of Kendra, Karen, Ashton, and even Julie (forgiving last night’s trainwreck)

One final note = the judging is attrocious. Soo much love for everyone, and it’s not helping anyone actually grow. Randy is definitely the only useful one. Steven and JLo are glorified cheerleader/Ellen types at this point. I’ve been hounding Nigel about that, but he doesn’t seem to get it. Sigh. Just cut out the judging at this point if all we’re gonna get is – that was great, that was beautiful, that was the best ever!

partyintheusa

Hell most of the artists on the radio today would not stand a chance on Idol and be hated by many. Putting aspiring singers on TV changes the whole game and makes it near impossible to find a superstar. Kelly, Daughtry, and Carrie got lucky enough to escape whatever hatred they endured on TV and were able to translate into bonafide star afterwards. That is a rare thing and even rarer nowadays when people have no interest in buying music from new artists.

Kirsten

I could make a very similar list for the guys BTW. The AI audience is very demanding of the personalities of all the contestants IMO, which is why we end up with the least offensive option so many times.

Exactly. Aaron was too pageanty last year, Ace got abuse for being too good looking, Big Mike was savaged for having too much personality and being too confident.

Each poster comes with their own expecations and preferences. That leads to a cacaphony of opinions that often seem contrary, but really are not.

But I do not believe that everything is binary. Male/Female. South/North. Rocker/Country. Big Voice/Quirky Voice. Each person combines together all of these factors and may like the over-confident rocker, but dislike the over-confident country singer. Perhaps not because of the country/rocker thing, but because their are a combination of factors going on.

People I’ve known on this blog to be huge fans of Allison with her voice that is older than she is hate on Scotty for sounding older than he is. Is it because they are sexist? I am quite positive that they are not. I don’t think it is one factor in isolation.

If I’m a huge fan of classic country and I like Scotty, is that because I’m sexist or because there are no classic country female contestants? Some goes for metal and gospel this year. Meanwhile, if I like Pop music, I will probably lean towards one of the many pop friendly female. Maybe I like big voices and I’ll take a big voiced rocker over a thin voiced pop singer even if I like pop better.

So, I struggle to remember that if poster A likes confident contestant X while poster B hates confident contestant Y, it doesn’t mean either is being inconsistent. I also keep in mind that even if poster A likes confident X and hates confident Y, it may be more than superficial reasons why that is so. And I always try to remember not to bash a group (such as women) for being prejudiced against members of that same group while spouting some of the most prejudiced things I’ve ever heard.

Women are the primary target audience for pop radio. Pop radio is full of gorgeous female singers of a variety of different singing styles. I think women can and will support a pretty girl. I do not think we are constantly driven by jealousy.

Landmd

* Janelle = OMG what was with those OTT antics on stage. The vocals were (mostly) ok, but the wild stage gestures and stupid faces completely took me out of that. Plus that song is so overdone. Next. Arguing didn’t help her either

Did you mean Haley? Janelle was on last season?

gabriel oak

Advice for Thia — some find you robotic. You need to burst into tears on the next episode when you finish your song.

I’m going to defend her until the end. I think her serenity may be partly cultural. I get the sense that her family isn’t into showing emotion effusively. Thia could be a zen princess.

gabriel oak

I have never bought any albums by Carrie Underwood but I have to say she is 10x more appealing than Laura A. who is probably going to win this thing. And I’ve always been turned off by Carrie because she is so boring, even though she can obviously sing.

tinawina

I think women can and will support a pretty girl. I do not think we are constantly driven by jealousy.

I agree, and before we get too much further down this road I want to make it perfectly clear that I never said anything about women being jealous of other women, and in fact said people are hard on men too from the beginning. There were some people who quoted me that went there, and that’s fine, but that was not where I was coming from.

I don’t want any parts of this particular clusterf*ck. LOL

I don’t think it is one factor in isolation.

I don’t either. I think people like what they like and know what they like when they see it. But it is not an entirely rational thing, so when pressed to explain all these reasons come out that may or may not be consistent with anything. I think the same thing happens with the judging. All they know is something is not working, and when pressed to explain why they sprout reasons that they think might be cause, even though it may be wrong or different than what someone else just said. This is why good A&R people are like gold. To some degree there is just something intangible when trying to figure out what makes a performer and their songs and their look gel just right.

Mary102

The really successful pop stars (what this show was supposed to be trying to find) and not boring and not bland. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, etc. are not bland.

Yes, so true. I always had that problem with many of the girls on AI too. And I think that problem is compounded when you have a much older audience potentially picking a new pop star. That disconnect is what has contributed to 3 WGWG winning recently, and what makes the success of a lot of “potential Top 40″ artists on AI really hard to create.

Also, re Lauren A, I think that one thing that has bugged me is that there is a distinct “trying too hard” vibe about it all. What with the Steven hugs and “peaches” Ryan joke. Everything is being set up to make her the most lovable squishable likeable kid ever or something.

I tried to rack my brain over past years, and granted there was a lot of early hyperbole then too (S8 comes to mind = Danny and Adam were already in the finale by the Top 13 show, lol). And I remember being pissed off by that. But then I also remember, say, Adam having an amazing personality on the show, but also being more respectfully reserved too. No sign of this “trying too hard” business. IDK. And the pimping seemed like it was all from the judges gushing in that case, whereas this year it feels like the whole show, including Nigel, Ryan, Lauren herself and the judges are all in on the “pimping-to-the-max” ploy for Lauren. IDK, it’s just irking me.

Mary102

Did you mean Haley? Janelle was on last season?

LMAO – you’re right! I keep thinking her name is Janelle for some reason…And I’ve been following this whole season from the beginning, huhn. Well that just shows you what kind of impression she made on me, I guess ;-)

http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

Reminder:

Please don’t put words in other posters mouths or question their motives. It starts arguments that are tedious to read. Stick to expressing your own opinion, please.

BrianC82

One final note = the judging is attrocious. Soo much love for everyone, and it’s not helping anyone actually grow. Randy is definitely the only useful one. Steven and JLo are glorified cheerleader/Ellen types at this point. I’ve been hounding Nigel about that, but he doesn’t seem to get it. Sigh. Just cut out the judging at this point if all we’re gonna get is – that was great, that was beautiful, that was the best ever!

I reject the reactionary notion that Simon’s critiques helped anyone “grow” as a performer. Steven’s comments about Simon don’t surprise me at all. Anyone with actual performing experience will tell you that those kinds of critiques break down your confidence as a singer.

One more thing: If the judges are so bad, then why is the talent so much better this year? Steven and JLo deserve credit for stocking the Top 24 with so many talented singers. I could easily see someone like Jacee or Chris making the Top 24 if Simon/Paula still held the deciding votes.

MrDuffin

I would luv to have a show that the contestants sang and and you could not see them. That would be a show based on talent only.

Grammie Kari

The show has never had anyone with personalities like that.. so how has it survived 10 seasons if that is what the show needs Q3?

If you went to Season 9 tour concert, you would have seen Siobhan Magnus break it loose and prove what a rock/alternative/metal rocker she is! However, there is no way they would have allowed her to do what she did. Her ending her song by sliding on her knees would have been criticized by Simon (via Tim Urban).

I maintain they did have someone like those gals who are hit makers, they just didn’t know what to do with her.

HR

I don’t think women are necessarily jealous but I do think the current makeup of the audience favors male vocals even if they are subpar.

Also I’m not buying into this idea the show is looking for a Katy or Gaga. If they were they would have promoted Rachel far more then they have Lauren A. I think they don’t care what genre you are into IF they believe you’ll be able to move millions of records. They see more potential in the bubbly 15 year old country blond to do this then the quirky brunette that demonstrated she’d be more likely to follow in the footsteps of those other pop acts.

Far as personalities involved I don’t care and I wish the Idol audience would move past it. This insistence that everyone must conform into a little bubble of traits they’ve deemed acceptable rules out almost everyone who participates on this show even if they have talent. I don’t care if someone is outgoing, a wallflower, thin or not so thin, smiles or doesn’t smile, lacks confidence or is unafraid to let the world know they believe they are good. I want to see talent and that is it. I’m not looking for a best friend or role model. I’m looking for someone I might want to listen to as a singer when the show is over.

Eriko

Recap from Kelli Ann professional vocal coach:

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – Only Girl In The World
Pitchy does not begin to describe this. She is flat and sharp and just all over the place – looks really cute – she is pretty – but her voice is driving me nuts. There is no support on the lows, her mid range is crazy weird, and her diction is awful – she does not finish words or phrases…..ugh…a complete mess.
4.0

Naima Adedepo – Summertime
She has such a classic throwback Jazz style to her – there are some small diction things that if she cleaned them up – it would “unify” her voice – such as….take AH and add it to “I” – less dipthong and then it would not sound so shrill….take off nasal qualities in the mid range, and less covering on the low notes, and she will REALLY blossom! Like her name! She is special and gifted!
8.5

Kendra Chantelle – Impossible
I thought it was weird to hear her not be able to sing the actual word “Impossible” – her diction was really strange on this – she was emulating and not making it her own in spots – but DANG she was hot walking out! Not many can pull off that look! Smokin! She was a bit nasal in parts, but I had no idea she had the range – a great surprise! She needs to work on the nasal parts – but clearly she is talented!
8.75

Rachel Zevita – Criminal
And it was criminal that we didn’t get to hear her really sing – this was so staged it threw off just about every part of her voice – pitch was all over the place, and her voice was lost in over-choreographed moves…..what a shame.
4.0

Karen Rodriguez – Hero (or should we say “héroe”)
Vocally she was the strongest so far…..but….weak in the main part of her head voice – her whistle head voice was clear and pretty with great range….I just don’t recall hearing that song on the radio in…Spanish…..just saying…..you must consider WHO is voting for you – and at this point…I don’t know if Mexico is allowed to vote???? And I have a Hispanic heritage…..and Cherokee and other nationalities – and if I am honored to be on American Idol – I am considering who I am trying to win over to vote for me……I love the fact that she wants to celebrate her culture – but please be considerate of ALL cultures….feel free to sing a song in Spanish – but don’t expect most of America to vote for ya’ then. And – if you are GOING to sing in a different language – here is my biggest problem – FEEL THE SONG! I have heard singers sing in so many languages and I have been moved…this did not MOVE ME…I felt ….eh. Again – she is lovely – with a lovely voice – but….will people vote?
8.25

Lauren Turner – 7 Day Fool
She knows what she does well –and she rocked it out! Stayed in her power range, great pitch – flip was smooth and controlled – WOW!
9.75

Ashton Jones – “In Your Love” ? – is this the name? I didn’t catch it…sorry
I was waiting….a long time….for more than 5 notes – oooo – then I got….one more note…..and it was still boring. She never put any real thought into the song – or doing anything with the melody line…it was the same nasal tone and everyone here was bored to tears….oooo – there were 3 nice notes at the end…nuff said.
6.5

Julie Zorrilla – Break Away
Hey – my dentists name is Zorrilla…huh….Who Knew! :0) Anyway – that was about the only nice thing I had to say here…..if someone wants me to critique it later ok – but for now….I’m gonna be generous with my score….
3.0

Haley Reinhart – Fallin’
This would not have been my song choice for her – and the judges kinda said the same thing – you expect a tone when you hear this song – and she has a great voice – she just didn’t have the right coloration vocally for this. I wrote down Janis – so funny that they mentioned it…..people have some songs that they associate a sound with – and she has a lighter “little girl” tone that is a bit nasal in spots – with some amazing grit and power – so she can really do a lot – she just needs to be choosing songs more wisely in rounds to come! Also – when singing – she needs to not imitate the diction – overall she has great tone – great range and good pitch – I enjoyed her energy.
8.75

Thia Megia – ……….ok……all we heard was the piano and Chip and I both said “oh NO…Out Here On My Own?!?!??!” – then someone in the room said “Hey – she is gonna screw up your song!” – oh man…..I really hope not – cuz I “heart” her!!!! She took out the low notes in the verse – as well as using a combination of words from 2 verses…..this song has more range than she offered up. She was slightly flat on the top notes – which was evident when the piano came back in…..oopppss….my issue – there was no ANGST! This song is SOOOOO about ANGST! This is not a quiet moment song – and…the character who sings the song is the same age – so….she should be able to identify with the song and the character…..but it was missing….then her last hold note was also flat – just slightly – but enough to be sad for me…..I DO love her gorgeous tone – and I think she is one heck of a talented individual – and I am sure most people don’t know this song….but I do – so…..yeah…..I still “heart” her!
8.5

Lauren Alaina – On The Radio
Reba WHO?!?!?!?! Oh YEAH!
9.95

Pia Toscano – I’ll Stand By You
Ok…..this bugs me…stop with the pageant hands – really – stop it! Lower the chin on the high notes, and FEEL the freaking song…this is WAY too staged for me….and the audience loves it and the judges love it and we all in this room said “what?” – it certainly didn’t translate into this big over the top emotional thing through our tv….maybe the High Def is too much? LOL. She is talented – the notes were close to on pitch – but something was missing….still a good score – but just not the best.
9.0

Mary102

I reject the reactionary notion that Simon’s critiques helped anyone “grow” as a performer. Steven’s comments about Simon don’t surprise me at all. Anyone with actual performing experience will tell you that those kinds of critiques break down your confidence as a singer.

One more thing: If the judges are so bad, then why is the talent so much better this year? Steven and JLo deserve credit for stocking the Top 24 with so many talented singers. I could easily see someone like Jacee or Chris making the Top 24 if Simon/Paula still held the deciding votes.

Ok, where to begin. LOL. Actually, many people on AI sited that Simon’s comments were some of the most useful because they helped them grow as artists (I know Adam specifically said that). And of course there is a RIGHT way to offer suggestions, and a WRONG way.

If you want to have 20 minutes every show wasted by JLO and Steven saying “that was beautiful! Outstanding! Amazing!” Then be my guest! (and you’re probably in the minority, just a guess).

Otherwise, what I want is CONSTRUCTIVE comments that are honest and helpful – telling them they picked a bad song that doesn’t highlight their strengths, or that they need to work on phrasing, or shaping the verses, whatever. At least it helps them. Just hearing YOU’RE GREAT! YOU’RE PERFECT! no matter how good you are does nothing for you. Even the best in the world still have teachers and coaches to give them feedback.

Second, the judges did not pick these Top 24, or at least not exclusively. LOL. Nigel and tptb behind the scenes did that. Nigel hates WGWG types, and loves big voiced singers who move across the stage and have experience – hence the shift in talent this year vs last year.

bridget

These are the young women I hope/think should advance, in the order I liked them.

Naima – like her voice, her story, her fashion, and her reactions to the judges.

Lauren T. – like her voice, haven’t picked up on her story or much else about her.

Rachel – Though I don’t think she did well last nite, I hope judges save her.

Lauren A. – She’s bringing something to the competition, in addition to her voice – a personality (and fashion sense) people tend to have some kind of opinion about, one way or the other.

Pia – So many people are favoriting her that even though I don’t love her yet, maybe I will).

I’d like to see Kendra and Haley more, too. (Hmm . . . that’s 7 – perfect! because they’re six guys I’d like to see advance – top ten and three wild cards?)

melanieian

I have read through some of the posts and I’m coming across some really harsh words for Lauren A. There are two types of personalities for teenage girls, spunky (Lauren A.) which some view as annoying, and quiet (Thia) which some view as boring. Lauren is not acting any differently then any other spunky 16 yr old girl. Lets not forget she is a child on the biggest stage of her life singing for millions of people and trying to get votes. She is by far hands down the best female singer in the top 12 girls. I see comments like sadly Lauren A will probably be in Top 5. Are you kidding me??? Of course she will be in Top 5 she is mega talented and DESERVES to be in top 5. I’m really disgusted with people attacking a 16 yr old child.

partyintheusa

Well said melaniean! Apparently a spunky personality makes her not likeable. That is what’s sad.

BrianC82

Actually, many people on AI sited that Simon’s comments were some of the most useful because they helped them grow as artists (I know Adam specifically said that). And of course there is a RIGHT way to offer suggestions, and a WRONG way.

Yeah, and I could find many more who said that his comments weren’t useful. Adam was a professional singer with years of experience. It’s much easier for someone like him to survive the rigors of the show.

Otherwise, what I want is CONSTRUCTIVE comments that are honest and helpful – telling them they picked a bad song that doesn’t highlight their strengths, or that they need to work on phrasing, or shaping the verses, whatever. At least it helps them. Just hearing YOU’RE GREAT! YOU’RE PERFECT! no matter how good you are does nothing for you. Even the best in the world still have teachers and coaches to give them feedback.

Are we watching the same show? They have repeatedly criticized the contestants for bad song choices. I also remember them criticizing several contestants during Hollywood week for phrasing issues, etc. The bad critiques aren’t coming as frequently because almost all of the Top 24 are strong singers. And yes, the judges are the ones who select the Top 24. Not Nigel, Ken, or the Cigarette Smoking Man.

JudyL

melanieian:
03/03/2011 at 1:16 pm

I have read through some of the posts and I’m coming across some really harsh words for Lauren A. There are two types of personalities for teenage girls, spunky (Lauren A.) which some view as annoying, and quiet (Thia) which some view as boring. Lauren is not acting any differently then any other spunky 16 yr old girl. Lets not forget she is a child on the biggest stage of her life singing for millions of people and trying to get votes. She is by far hands down the best female singer in the top 12 girls. I see comments like sadly Lauren A will probably be in Top 5. Are you kidding me??? Of course she will be in Top 5 she is mega talented and DESERVES to be in top 5. I’m really disgusted with people attacking a 16 yr old child.

I have more sympathy with the other female contestants who have to watch the obvious favoritism and attention being given to Lauren A. That has got to be really hard to deal with and TPTB are not letting up on promoting their pet contestant.

I feel it’s the parents who should be concerned about whether their child can deal with the pressure and criticism that comes with appearing on the show. But it would be wise to not allow the younger ones to read the blogs. Even some of the older contestants in the past have said they had to stay off the internet.

The favoritism being show Lauren A. is the worst I have ever seen on any Idol season and it is really annoying to many people. That accounts for a lot of posters feeling especially free in criticizing her.

melanieian

Well I disagree, I do not feel she is being showed more favortism than any other idol contestant ever. That is far fetched. I also feel that Jacob Lusk is getting pushed down our throats more and Pia got the most praise last night, not Lauren A. I also don’t get people taking out what TPTB do on the contestants but whatever, all of America votes.

Mark

This is why we get the least offensive people rising to the top most of the time IMO.

Eh, I see why people say this, but I’m never sure I could agree. I mean, if we take personality, Danny Gokey cracked Top 3, and he was widely reviled and polarizing. Kat McPhee? Hated, cracked Top 2. Archie cracked Top 2, and there was a huge hate bandwagon there. Those aren’t really the “least offensive” personalities. Honestly, I’m willing to say that the number of times a person gets voted off for “personality defects” is remarkably low.

Actually, I’ll give the AI audience this; for a TV show, the actual characters of the contestants do, in voting at least, get overlooked far more often in favor of perceived musical quality. (Even if the way they view that quality is wanting) It’s interesting, how the horse race takes over in the viewers minds first and foremost, mine included.

And, musically, you have to make a series of dubious claims to back up a claim of the “least offensive” in any broad sense. Garrett Haley was artistically more offensive than Brooke White or David Cook? Colton Berry? Joanne Borgella?

There’s an occasional contestant who is way ahead of their time and gets the shaft because of it. (Meet Leslie Hunt, Nicole Tranquillo, Nadia Turner, and to a lesser degree perhaps Lily Scott.) But they’re the exception, definitely not the rule.

tinawina

Eh, I see why people say this, but I’m never sure I could agree. I mean, if we take personality, Danny Gokey cracked Top 3, and he was widely reviled and polarizing. Kat McPhee? Hated, cracked Top 2. Archie cracked Top 2, and there was a huge hate bandwagon there. Those aren’t really the “least offensive” personalities. Honestly, I’m willing to say that the number of times a person gets voted off for “personality defects” is remarkably low.

Well, sorta. I think all those people were widely hated on the boards more than in real life, especially Gokey. They still had loads of people screaming for them at the concerts.

To me, it feels like America figures out who is really talented and fairly consistent, then the most likeable of those advance to the finals. And the one who the widest demo of people can get behind wins. If there is anything about you one of the larger voting demos will shun, you are toast. More often than not anyway.

MrDuffin

And yes, the judges are the ones who select the Top 24. Not Nigel, Ken, or the Cigarette Smoking Man.

I don’t believe that anymore than they picked their own songs and dressed themselves.

Kirsten

I have read through some of the posts and I’m coming across some really harsh words for Lauren A. There are two types of personalities for teenage girls, spunky (Lauren A.) which some view as annoying, and quiet (Thia) which some view as boring. Lauren is not acting any differently then any other spunky 16 yr old girl. Lets not forget she is a child on the biggest stage of her life singing for millions of people and trying to get votes. She is by far hands down the best female singer in the top 12 girls. I see comments like sadly Lauren A will probably be in Top 5. Are you kidding me??? Of course she will be in Top 5 she is mega talented and DESERVES to be in top 5. I’m really disgusted with people attacking a 16 yr old child.

IMO, the disgust should be directly aimed at her parents for putting her in this position. Children frequently want something, but it does them good to learn delayed gratification especially on something like this. If posters in a blog she may never read are rough, wait until she meets the Simon-like industry types which actually have some effect on her life.

I watch this show to be entertained. If I find somebody that obnoxious, I’m not entertained and I would like her off of my TV. If she doesn’t leave, I may turn off my TV. That may have no effect on ratings, but if enough people agree with me, then it will hurt ratings and nobody’s career will be launched.

Look, between all the kids on the show (Scotty, Robbie, Brett, Thia, Lauren A and probably others), those with health problems (Casey, James, Stefano, Paul) and those with sob-stories (Naima, Julie, Lauren T and others), if I have to automatically love and adore all of them and never say that I don’t enjoy something they have done, there is no room for those poor sad-sacks that are of age, healthy and not willing to root around to find some sad story to sell.

Sorry, Pia, you may have been the best of the night last night, but somebody has to go home and all the slots are already automatically given to those younger or less fortunate than you.

This is American Idol. I am going to like people who entertain me and pan people who do not. Anybody who is disgusted with me for judging everybody on how much I enjoyed their performance rather than age/illness/sob-story may want to learn how to use their scroll bars.

Valentin432

The favoritism being show Lauren A. is the worst I have ever seen on any Idol season and it is really annoying to many people. That accounts for a lot of posters feeling especially free in criticizing her.

Overpimping didn’t begin with Lauren A that’s for sure but I don’t get hating her only based on that.
Casey Abrams has had as much screen time as her and the pimp spot on Tuesday, I’ve yet to read one coment about that (aside from my own) and I’ve gone through approximately 5000 comments since this season began.

If you like a contestant, the pimping doesn’t matter, if you don’t it’s one more reason to hate.
Take Slezak, he was in love with Crystal last year and didn’t hold the pimping against her, now he can’t go through one coment about Lauren A without mentioning her status as favorite of the prooducers.

poohbear

How could anyone really tell if Lauren A is talented?!? Her song was so overproduced, it sounded as though it had been recorded in a studio. I mean, please! All the harmonies? Who was singing those harmonies?

justshootme

So lemme see … female idol fans who negatively judge the female contestants must be misogynists.
But female idol fans who negatively judge other female idol fans are … okey dokey?

I’m really disgusted with people attacking a 16 yr old child.

Are you talking about in this thread? Cuz I read the whole friggin thing and if this is as bad as it gets for Lauren A she should be thrilled. She’s a contestant on American Idol for crisake. Some people find her annoying. Big deal. Some people find her spunky. Most every post acknowledges her talent. Even most people who don’t like her admit that she belongs in the top 5 girls. She’s by far the most mentioned female. The judges love her and she’s probably the top vote getter. Poor thing.

ETA Or what Kristin said.

Mark

Take Slezak, he was in love with Crystal last year and didn’t hold the pimping against her, now he can’t go through one coment about Lauren A without mentioning her status as favorite of the prooducers.

Well, no, if you look back on the record, he kind of did. Some more resentment is obviously in play if it isn’t your favorite, and he’s no exception, but he called out the production a lot on that.

Well, sorta. I think all those people were widely hated on the boards more than in real life, especially Gokey. They still had loads of people screaming for them at the concerts.

To me, it feels like America figures out who is really talented and fairly consistent, then the most likeable of those advance to the finals. And the one who the widest demo of people can get behind wins. If there is anything about you one of the larger voting demos will shun, you are toast. More often than not anyway.

Many issues here. See, you’re looking at their most popular elements, their isolated maximum of fanbase. That’s not a question of how well they are generally likable, and certainly not about how they are least controversial or problematic to some broad audience. Further, we’re only measuring by board anyway; we don’t really know how much, for example, the Lauren A. judgments take place outside the boards.

I think your model is somewhat accurate, but I can think of at least half the seasons where a legitimate contender was passed over by a less “likable” legitimate contender. And I’m a little hot-and-cold on the use of demographics as an easy translation to the voting blocks of the show, which I think are specifically cultivated entities by the show as much as anything existing in nature.

JudyL

Overpimping didn’t begin with Lauren A that’s for sure but I don’t get hating her only based on that.
Casey Abrams has had as much screen time as her and the pimp spot on Tuesday, I’ve yet to read one coment about that (aside from my own) and I’ve gone through approximately 5000 comments since this season began.

If you like a contestant, the pimping doesn’t matter, if you don’t it’s one more reason to hate.
Take Slezak, he was in love with Crystal last year and didn’t hold the pimping against her, now he can’t go through one coment about Lauren A without mentioning her status as favorite of the prooducers.

True, there has always been pimping by TPTB. It’s annoying and most people don’t like it BUT, like you say, if a poster likes a contestant they will tolerate the favoritism. Thing is, Casey, Crystal and some other past recipients come across as likable in spite of it, so the pimping is overlooked. Lauren seems to have really bought into the hype and IMO is not likable, so the pimping is just part of the criticism but certainly not the total reason. From her familiarity with Steven, to hugging all the judges, to bestowing the name Peaches on Ryan, etc……it is all just too much. I see no signs of her being a delicate little thing who just won’t be able to handle the criticism.

Valentin432

Well, no, if you look back on the record, he kind of did. Some more resentment is obviously in play if it isn’t your favorite, and he’s no exception, but he called out the production a lot on that.

Yes he called the producers on that.
No, He didn’t hold the pimping against Crystal. He comented several times about him not wanting the producers to pimp her too much but he loved her from start to finish of her season and Jason Averett didn’t produce Idolatry to showcase the overpimping either.
For Crystal, it was no ther fault.

Now he uses Lauren A as a scape goat for the one that the producers want to see succeed and we must rally to avoid this horrible thing to happen.

If people were against pimping on principle then in theory they should hate Casey Abrams “the best musician in idol history” too, from what I can see (which granted is only a small number of opinions) that’s not exactly what is happening.

MrDuffin

Lee was pimped way more than Crystal and thankfully he won…..

Mark

No, He didn’t hold the pimping against Crystal. He comented several times about him not wanting the producers to pimp her too much but he loved her from start to finish of her season and Jason Averett didn’t produce Idolatry to showcase the overpimping either.
For Crystal, it was no ther fault.

Now he uses Lauren A as a scape goat for the one that the producers want to see succeed and we must rally to avoid this horrible thing to happen.

If people were against pimping on principle then in theory they should hate Casey Abrams “the best musician in idol history” too, from what I can see (which granted is only a small number of opinions) that’s not exactly what is happening.

Generally, yes, your view on “pimping” is going to depend on the contestant and a perception of how well much the contestant deserves it. Not contesting that. Still, I don’t think anyone is claiming they’re voting against Lauren Alaina on the sole, simple, complete principle fact that she’s being pimped,unless you’re simply VFTW. They’re saying that she’s not worthy of the attention and focus she’s getting from the production, which is a value judgment on Lauren as much as the production. That’s how it works.

Valentin432

Lauren seems to have really bought into the hype and IMO is not likable, so the pimping is just part of the criticism but certainly not the total reason. From her familiarity with Steven, to hugging all the judges, to bestowing the name Peaches on Ryan, etc……it is all just too much. I see no signs of her being a delicate little thing who just won’t be able to handle the criticism.

I don’t like when the debate goes outside of the singing/performing.
What am I supposed to judge a contestant personality on? Ten minutes of edited footage? Some kind of body language they are showing?

I remember Katelyn Epperly being judged as bitchy because she wasn’t smiling when Crystal was performing during one semifinal. What do we learn weeks after that? They were very good friends.

Lauren A is a 16 year old kid, she has a big personality and frankly all this made me wonder how people would have reacted to Kelly’s audition and the whole swaping places with Randy.
I mean she could be the most caring and nice teenager out there and Casey could eat babies for his breakfast for all I know.

BlankSlate

Sometimes it makes you wonder… Is this show really about finding a recording artist/idol..or is it just a SHOW? Do you think in the end they care about the winner as much as they care we are watching religiously and helping them secure huge advertisers for the program?

If the winner goes on to sell records, that’s a bonus. But this is a television program FIRST, contest second (and, now, apparrently, an in-house promo machine, what with J Lo’s video thingy being aired tonight).

The true winner? The producers of AI who get a lot of money for us.. watching.

tinawina

Many issues here. See, you’re looking at their most popular elements, their isolated maximum of fanbase. That’s not a question of how well they are generally likable, and certainly not about how they are least controversial or problematic to some broad audience. Further, we’re only measuring by board anyway; we don’t really know how much, for example, the Lauren A. judgments take place outside the boards.

I think your model is somewhat accurate, but I can think of at least half the seasons where a legitimate contender was passed over by a less “likable” legitimate contender. And I’m a little hot-and-cold on the use of demographics as an easy translation to the voting blocks of the show, which I think are specifically cultivated entities by the show as much as anything existing in nature.

You know what? I think you’re right. I’m using “likable” and “least offensive” somewhat interchangeably and that’s not really what I mean. Its sloppy in my head and it shows. I need to go back and think about what I am trying to say some more.

But I will say this… generally, I think of who is liked on the internet (and the idol media) and who is liked in real life as 2 different things. If lots of people show up to the tapings to cheer for someone, or turn out to the concerts as rabid screaming fans, then I tend to think of that person as real life popular (like Carrie Underwood or Danny Gokey or even Archie in their years) even if the media and the boards complain about them a lot. So I’m not always going by the boards when I say I think someone is popular.

Mark

But I will say this… generally, I think of who is liked on the internet (and the idol media) and who is liked in real life as 2 different things. If lots of people show up to the tapings to cheer for someone, or turn out to the concerts as rabid screaming fans, then I tend to think of that person as real life popular (like Carrie Underwood or Danny Gokey or even Archie in their years) even if the media and the boards complain about them a lot. So I’m not always going by the boards when I say I think someone is popular.

I think that’s absolutely true, and there’s a lot of differences that are actually quite specific. Two that come to mind are the focus on things that are musically credible (we want more off-the-beaten-path song choices, in general, than I suspect the AI audience at large cares about) and are more cognizant of the production. Probably just more outright cynical as well. And popularity on the boards does not seem to be a 1-1 relation to popularity in the general audience. (Hell, even the type of board makes a huge difference. The people at MJ’s are not generally the same people at EW.com)

JudyL

I don’t like when the debate goes outside of the singing/performing thing.

It’s always been about likability, personality AND talent on Idol and it won’t change. Pimping also has always been part of Idol. Plenty of people with excessive pimping have gone far on the show in spite of the pimping. And plenty of people with talent have been voted out early because of their personality, or how we perceive them.

Talent shows I’ve watched that have viewer voting often have a winner, or contestants lasting well into the contest, that are not the most talented but are simply contestants people like the best. Even non-voting shows like Survivor, viewers want the person they like best to win and it is not necessarily the best player. Goes with the territory.

Nina1

who’s to know whether an opinion is legit or merely the result of the jealousy to which women are naturally predisposed?

Speaking for yerself, I hope.

I do not like Lauren Alaina and I do think her parents have a role to play. Lauren is just over-familiar with adults: She would call her gyno, Dr. Ichabod Handlum, “Icky” and sidle up to him in the office. Okay, maybe she wouldn’t do the latter, but she would flirt. She has no respect or sense of boundaries and many of us just don’t appreciate it. Everyone is her good bud, ready for a lap-sit or an arm-touch and it is unbecoming coming from a young girl. Her parents may have raised her around too many adults, who let her be too familiar or who set no limits on acceptability.

As someone once said about Deborah Norville, “She reminds women of their least-favorite college room-mate.” This is true for Alaina. Who hasn’t had a friend advance on their boyfriend, over-approaching, flirting, sexual? It is not that she is good-looking, though Idol’s cameras have caressed her face more than a porn vid caresses a camel toe; it’s that she uses what she has been given as a kitten and in doing so forgoes any respect we could give her.

She is quintessential Generation Zygote: Over-privileged, over-indulged, overly in everyone’s face, and overly-wonderful. Especially to herself.

She is hard to warm up to – and I, for one, would like to interview a few of her classmates. (But not her male teachers. Read Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer (Ditsy) Blondes. Men are Dumb Schmucks.)

Eriko

I don’t like when the debate goes outside of the singing/performing.
What am I supposed to judge a contestant personality on? Ten minutes of edited footage? Some kind of body language they are showing?

I agree, but unfortunately, it´s wishful thinking. Judging outside of singing/performing is just an ego thing. “Why isn´t he/she more like what I like?” So, the ego has to justify and defend itself by criticizing the threat, and probably judge the performance accordingly with unfavorable bias

Nina1

P.S. ALL of the singers need to keep their mitts off of Ryan. I have noticed every contestant who didn’t and it could kill a potential win.

easyrider707

Watched last night to be entertaItained by what I thought was a very deep cast of reasonably good female performers. I did not start with the expectation of one of these good young girls being a Kelly, Carrie, Fantasia and certainly not as musically talented as Crystal. I just wanted to be entertained by these girls as I was the night before.

I was completely surprised and shocked at how non-creative this group was in their songs and arrangements. Shocked given the anticipated level of importance given the deep talent. Again, I did not enter with the expectation of a complete standout – just some good entertainment

I never go after the contestants. This was bad on AI,s part to me as clearly you do not have the artistic creativity as with the boys this year. Trying to cover it up with loud instruments and heavy mixes gonly made it worse as I could not hear many of the songs words. And Julie, who waas so strong before was reduced to pity in this format. Maybe allowining these girls an instrument would have helped, especially Julie on piano. Really bad on Nigel to me.

Valentin432

As someone once said about Deborah Norville, “She reminds women of their least-favorite college room-mate.” This is true for Alaina. Who hasn’t had a sexy friend advance on their boyfriend, over-approaching, flirting, sexual? It is not that she is good-looking, though Idol’s cameras have caressed her face more than a porn vid caresses a camel toe; it’s that she uses what she has been given as a kitten and in doing so forgoes any respect we could give her.

That’s exactly the type of comments that makes me cringe to the highest degree.
Stealing someone’s boyfriend? Porn vid? Camel toe? Kitten?
Based on what? Making eye contact when performing in front of Steven Tyler? Dancing with a hand on his shoulder?
Really that’s ground for saying she’s a boyfriend stealer and a sex kitten? Bleh.

BTW her fellow group members were very happy to see her go through.
Oh wait I forgot, they werer paid by the production to say nice things about her. YEs that seems plausible
TPTB are investing a lof of money on this kid.

easyrider707

Have very serious concerns about these girls musicality with the exception of maybe Naimi, Kendra, Lauren T, and maybe a little with Karen,Haley and Pia. Certainly had this view of younger girls entering the evening, but problem appeared to exist in almost all performances.

mozart4898

That’s exactly the type of comments that makes me cringe to the highest degree.
Stealing someone’s boyfriend? Porn vid? Camel toe? Kitten?
Based on what? Making eye contact when performing in front of Steven Tyler? Dancing with a hand on his shoulder?
Really that’s ground for saying she’s a boyfriend stealer and a sex kitten? Bleh.

BTW her fellow group members were very happy to see her go through.
Oh wait I forgot, they werer paid by the production to say nice things about her. YEs that seems plausible
TPTB are investing a lof of money on this kid.

Those comments about her were the exact sort of thing I was getting at with my comments early this morning about people being so hard on the women for whatever reason. Of course people are harsh on the guys from time to time too, but you don’t see that sort of vitrol pointed in the direction of any of the guys personally. You *do* see the guys take harsh criticism for their performances, but I can’t recall seeing such things said about someone personally at all.

And honestly I watched Lauren A’s video last night after watching Pia and Thia. To my ear, she’s not as good a singer as either of them. She almost sounded like she’s sick or something – she was having trouble, I thought, getting her voice to “speak” on the beginnings of phrases. It’s hard to explain but it just didn’t sound right. If it’s her style, it’s something that I don’t think quite works…but I’m just one opinion there. So performance wise, I wasn’t blown away by her. Only watched those 3 so I don’t know how she compares to the others, but I’d say of the 3 she was the weakest. That said, of the 3, her attitude that comes through in her performance, I thought, was great. That’s a very small concern for me in a performer but if I’m judging that, I prefer her over the other 2.

Opinions can and will vary. However, those like her that are this polarizing already definitely won’t be in good shape down the line.

JudyL

Have very serious concerns about these girls musicality

I think you are right. The 5 guys considered to be the male finalists by many (Casey, Paul, Scotty, Durbin and Lusk) have a specific style and know who they are musically. Their voices can easily be recognized by most of us already. It’s early but I have a feeling that they are all talented enough to make a decent showing if they have to perform in different genre on the show. I really don’t think this is true of the female singers. Didn’t one of them (I think it was Rachel) even say to the judges ‘I don’t know who you want me to be’ or something like that?

Nina1

That’s exactly the type of comments that makes me cringe to the highest degree.
Stealing someone’s boyfriend? Porn vid? Camel toe? Kitten?
Based on what? Making eye contact when performing in front of Steven Tyler? Dancing with a hand on his shoulder?
Really that’s ground for saying she’s a boyfriend stealer and a sex kitten? Bleh.

I’m old enough to be this girl’s grandmother and if I caught my grand-daughter being overly, well, touchy-feely, with men, I would knock her mother upside the head and tell her to bring the kid up short – and soon.

LA is not the most beautiful girl in this contest; many of them are far prettier. She is the most overtly sexual; there is a difference. Lauren has the ability to win this thing on her voice alone, but she will not and possibly not come close – which is a shame. Girls who do this are often not handsome at all; they are needy. And, unfortunately, often not beloved.

Mark

To my ear, she’s not as good a singer as either of them. She almost sounded like she’s sick or something – she was having trouble, I thought, getting her voice to “speak” on the beginnings of phrases. It’s hard to explain but it just didn’t sound right.

The breath support issue, by chance?

JudyL

You *do* see the guys take harsh criticism for their performances, but I can’t recall seeing such things said about someone personally at all.

Were you watching during Constantine’s season? He was widely panned and laughed at for his playing up to the camera? Called all sorts of names and is still disliked by lots of Idol viewers for ‘trying’ to play up his sexuality. It cost him lots of votes IMO.

I can’t recall any other male trying to play up their sexuality but I think it definitely would not be popular with posters here.

JudyOhio

I thought Lauren A. dressed very age appropriate last night (and the look complimented the song). She’s young, and she is spontaneous. I’m not a fan of hers at this time, but I think she belongs in the top 12 (13, 14, or whatever they finally decide, lol).
I probably would have been more offended if someone in their 20’s had behaved in the same flirty way with Steven because I think by that age they should know better. Maybe LA went overboard a bit with Steven, but they probably didn’t put her in “time-out” and she’s was probably sweetly clued in that it was a no-no or not “ladylike”, lol. And quite frankly, Steven could have stood to cool it a bit with his own actions/comments/ooogling of the 15/16 year old girls! Anyway, now that the cast is finally getting put together and first impressions of appearance and reaction to it have calmed down, the above SHOULD cease to be a problem.

calgary

mj
You did a great job of analysing the ladies…in my books anyway – 100 percent agreement!